


Nephilim Witch

by Vorpal_Quick_Blade



Category: Devil May Cry, DmC: Devil May Cry, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Sword Art Online
Genre: Abuse, Dark Lily Potter, Evil/bashing of Dumbledore and other HP characters, F/M, Language, Mention of Forced Abortion, Possibly missed tags to be added later, Violence, and contains abuse for crying out loud), dark themes (occasionally it's Sword Art Online, gender bending, generally AU for all three of the crossovered universes, it's just wrong), out of character behavior of known characters, rape (I consider having sex with someone under the effects of love potion to be rape, the rest concern the fic in general.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2018-06-01 22:18:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 40
Words: 354,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6538705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vorpal_Quick_Blade/pseuds/Vorpal_Quick_Blade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marzanna Sparda, Daughter of Lily Evans and Dante Sparda, younger half sibling to 'the boy-who-lived' Mike Potter. With her birth, the fates of many changed. Marzanna is Fem!Harry.<br/>Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Devil May Cry, or Sword Art Online, and I will never own them, so this disclaimer is for the whole fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. And So Fate Begins

**Author's Note:**

> Marzanna is a Goddess of witchcraft, dearth, and winter, she's also associated with nightmares. Hanna is a Goddess of life, though this name won't become relevant till later. Also for Devil May Cry I'm using stuff from both the original games, and the DMC:Devil May Cry reboot. The year is different than in Harry Potter, instead it's SAOs, since there was no really reason for the date in HP, whereas SAOs in the future mostly because of NerveGear and AmuSphere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marzanna is a Goddess of witchcraft, dearth, and winter, she's also associated with nightmares. Hanna is a Goddess of life, though this name won't become relevant till later. Also for Devil May Cry I'm using stuff from both the original games, and the DMC:Devil May Cry reboot. Also the year is different than in Harry Potter, instead it's SAO's., since there was no really reason for the date in HP, whereas SAO's in the future mostly because of NerveGear and AmuSphere.

Lily Evans was pissed. She was supposed to marry _James_ _Potter_ in a week. She hated James, and now that her mind was clear she realized he'd been giving her love potions since their sixth year at Hogwarts. Currently she was on a last minute 'bachelorette vacation' in America with a friend of James', she knew the woman wasn't **her** friend, knew that **woman** was the one feeding her the love potions while she was on 'vacation'. Severus, her best friend, had finally gotten to her, and tricked her into using a bezoar, not that she was complaining now that she wasn't under the potions influence. She was glad they'd made up privately after their fight in fifth year. She'd known that he'd already been at the end of his rope from the other slytherins pressuring him to join Voldemort, James and Sirius had made him snap, resulting in him calling her a mudblood. He'd apologized profusely later, and eventually she'd forgiven him. Not that she was capable of staying mad at him for long, not when he hadn't meant it, after all he was her older brother in all but blood, and that sibling sentiment had been returned ever since he got over his crush on her.

Now she looked to him and sighed, saying, "Thank you Severus, I haven't been myself since sixth year. Though it's a bit late now. I didn't put the clues together when I was under the love potions thrall, but now that I can think clearly I know from those clues that Dumbledore has been the one supplying Potter with love potions. Most likely in return for his loyalty. He's not about to let me go now, not when it's only a week till I'm bound to James. It isn't a wedding in a traditional sense. It's a magically binding wedding that they're making me do. I won't be able to leave him unless a miracle happens."

Severus looked heartbroken at the news his pseudo sister was going to have to marry against her will anyway, and said, "I'm so sorry Lily. I tried to get to you earlier but couldn't. I'm assuming that miracle is you having and meeting your soulmate? No matter how binding, **_all_ ** marriages and marriage contracts are required by law to have that clause."

Lily nodded her head. Then said, "I know you tried Severus, and I'm extremely grateful. However worse yet, even if I try to prepare counters, chances are I'll be back under a love potion by the time I'm forced to marry that sick bastard. So this will probably be the last time I'm **_me_** for a long while. They won't keep me under forever, the one good thing about Potter's obsession with me is that he won't allow it. Not with the way years of continually being subjected to love potion will poison, and eventually kill someone. By then though, he'll have made me marry him and give him at least one child."

Severus said nothing in return, there was really nothing to say to that. They talked for hours after that, discussing all manner of things, enjoying Lily's temporary freedom and using it to spend time together. Eventually though Severus had to leave, as much as he'd resisted he'd eventually been forced to join Voldemort, and there was a meeting he was required to attend soon. Required as long as he wanted to keep his life anyway. So they said their goodbyes, both painfully aware it could be the last time the real Lily got to see Severus for a long time to come.

Half an hour later, Lily had made a decision. This decision would do many things: 1. It was to spite both Potter and Dumbledore. 2. It would be her way of constantly showing Potter that she would **_never_ ** truly be his. And 3. She wanted to do _something_ , one last choice that was completely and utterly **her** decision, a decision that would _last_. So with her decision made she went to a local magical shopping center, headed to a potions shop, and bought a fertility potion. Then she went back to her hotel room and took the potion. It would take a couple hours to kick in, and it would only last a few days, but if she slept with anyone in that time frame it was practically guaranteed she'd become pregnant, she'd just need to do a wandless nonverbal spell to break the condom. Though there were spells to terminate a pregnancy, she knew of spells that prevented abortion.

Since she had had a few hours since it kicked it anyway, Lily started getting ready for a night out. Slightly slutish though it may be, she wasn't going to be overly picky about who she sleep with, as long as they were attractive and charming _enough_ that she didn't _feel_ like a slut, anyone would do.

* * *

 

It was now almost one in the morning and Lily still hadn't found someone suitable for her needs. It was strange, she almost felt like she was waiting for someone particular. Whatever the case may be, if she didn't find someone tonight she'd just lower her standards the _slightest_ bit tomorrow. She soon realized it wouldn't be an issue though, as suddenly that feeling of 'waiting for a specific someone' became 'turn around'. So she did, and saw a man with strange white hair and a red trench coat on walking into the bar.

Lily turned away and started watching him from the corner of her eyes. The man walked up to the bar and ordered a drink, then a moment later payed for it and thanked the bartender when he received it. For a few minutes the man just poured himself drinks from the bottle he bought.

Finally he seemed to notice her, grabbing his bottle and cup, then walked up to her grinning, absently she noted that now that he was closer, she could he see had beautifully soulful blue eyes, then he asked, "Now I know it sounds clichéd, but I'm being utterly serious when I ask. So please, would you be so kind as to enlighten me to what a gorgeous woman like you is doing in a rundown, shady, hole in the wall bar like this?"

She wasn't here to banter or anything of the sort, but something about him made it impossible to stop herself from playfully teasing, "Oh your being serious huh? Well you're certainly right about it being clichéd, but to answer it anyway I have no particular reason for being here. Though I might just have to leave if you continue being clichéd."

He grinned even wider at her playfulness then jokingly said, "Well that's a complete shame, I'd hate to lose the company of such a lovely woman, but sadly I'm clichéd most of the time."

She couldn't stop the smile from forming, but really she didn't feel like trying to stop it. There was something about this man that was utterly charming, and he was rather attractive to boot. So still smiling, she continued playfully teasing him by saying, "Oh, well I better just head for the door while I still can, then hmm?"

The man laughed, then said, "I suppose so. I'm Dante by the way. Dante Sparda. I hope you have a name befitting your loveliness, otherwise it would be an utter shame."

Now Lily laughed, then responded with, "Lily. Lily Evans."

Dante just grinned charmingly at her.

* * *

 

Hours later after Lily had discovered Dante was amazing in bed, Lily woke up. Dante was still asleep. She sighed, as much as she'd like to stay till the morning with Dante, she had to get going. The thought was strangely painful considering she'd only known him for a few hours. Still she ignored the feeling and slowly sat up so she wouldn't wake him. However when she moved her hand so she could climb out of the bed, she felt something incredibly soft beneath her fingers. Picking it up and looking at it, she saw it was a beautiful white and black feather. That same feeling from earlier, the one that told her 'wait' and then 'turn around' came back, and she felt like this feather was incredibly important and precious. So she got out of bed and got dressed, being careful not to wake Dante the entire time, even going so far as to use a wandless nonverbal silencing spell in her feet. Afterwards she carefully picked the feather back up from where she'd set it on the bedside table, magically drilled a hole through the shaft of the feather, and conjured a chain putting it through the hole in the feather. Then she promptly put the new necklace on.

* * *

 

Dumbledore was quickly gaining a headache. Somehow despite the love potions, Lily had gotten pregnant during her little 'bachelorette vacation' a month prior. It threw a wrench in his plans, and even worse now James was complaining to him furiously, "How did she even **think** about sleeping with anyone, you guaranteed me that the potions would make her completely loyal to me! The plan was for her to get pregnant, she's supposed to _already_ be pregnant with an heir to the Potter family! So why haven't you already aborted the one she's carrying now?"

Dumbledore sighed, looking down at Lily Potter currently under the effects of a sleeping potion, then said, "It would seem Lily was at some point unaffected by the love potion, and got pregnant on purpose during that time." Seeing James look utterly confused he continued, "She cast multiple spells on herself to prevent abortion. Even with magic, she couldn't possibly have known before the wedding, and I **know** she was under the love potions thrall then. Ergo she knew even before it would show up on a scan, hence she did it on purpose. However, back to the anti-abortion spells, even I can't remove them, these spells are extremely powerful and rather tricky. I do however, know a way around this predicament."

James didn't look happy at his explanation, but perked slightly at the last sentence before asking, "You do? What it is?"

Dumbledore felt slightly annoyed that James doubted him, but ignored it and responded with, "Yes James, I do. We can't do anything about the child, but I know of a rather unique spell that allows a woman already pregnant to conceive another child. The spell will allow her to conceive for three days after I cast it. The first child will still be born, with no complications despite the other baby, and if their conception dates are less than six weeks apart, which will happen with these two, they will be born together as twins. While I know you don't care about the child, if Lily is going to carry it to term, we might as well keep it around in case it becomes useful." He thought for a moment then continued, "Also, I should probably modify her memory. It wouldn't be wise to allow her to know she's under the amortentia, even if most don't care when their under its thrall."

James just huffed, then said, "Very well, that doesn't mean I have to like it though. Cast the spells, I'm sure you're needed elsewhere. Your attention is always in high demand."

* * *

 

Marzanna Potter was six years old and a brilliant child. James continually informed her she only held his name so no one would know she wasn't his, though James was an abusive asshole so she didn't want to have his name or be his child. Even if he only hit her _because_ she wasn't his. Currently she was searching the Potter library for information on a love potion called amortentia. Her mother had abruptly handed her a journal the other day, saying that she was supposed to give it to her, but didn't know why. To her surprise, when she opened it, she found it was in her mother's. Inside her mother had explained about being under a love potion, and that she knew she'd be under its thrall again. She'd gone on to say that she had cast a compulsion charm on herself to give the journal to her when she was old enough to understand its contents, and the runes on it that made it impossible for anyone else to read it. It had so much written in it. Stuff about what her mother was really like, and her view of the wizarding world and its laws. Her relationships, mostly how much she hated James, and how she loved her pseudo brother Severus Snape. What Marzanna found most important though, where the 'letters' from her mother, and what little she knew about Marzanna's father, Dante Sparda. She'd even gotten hold of a special type of pensieve that let someone make a photo from a memory, and included a picture of Dante in the journal. She'd told her that the pensieve and everything else she treasured, was inside a trunk hidden in the attic, as she didn't want Potter or Dumbledore to get their hands on any of it. The trunk was capable of shrinking, and had feather light charms of it. It was also expanded on the inside, and had multiple compartments, which compartment you accessed was determined by was numbers you turned the combination lock too. Her mother had told her to get the trunk and keep it with her at all times.

So she'd collected the trunk, which was currently stored inside her Devil Bringer -after careful experimenting to make sure it wouldn't destroy it of course-, and was now looking for info on the potion that enslaved her mother. She learned that a person could be given amortentia for about twenty years before it began to poison them, eventually leading to death if they continued to be given it. Her mother had explained in the journal that she'd been given amortentia since her sixth year at Hogwarts, since her mother gave birth to her when she was 22 that meant she'd been under amortentia for 12 years. The question then was whether or not James would take it far enough to kill her. Her mother had always followed Potter's lead, which was understandable if she was under amortentias' thrall. Though this revelation made the two exceptions to that rule even stranger than before. The first exception being that where James hatred her with a passion, her mother had almost, _almost_ but not quite been loving towards her. Though this journal told her the **real** Lily loved her dearly.

So with all this in mind, the predicament arose, should she attempt to stop the bastard Potter? Or should she wait a few years, and see if he stopped on his own to prevent killing her? As she was contemplating this she put the book she'd found amortentia in away. After that she began absently browsing the section on the dark arts and the defenses designed to combat it for something to read, though it was impossible to really tell until she got her wand, it appeared as though she had an affinity for those subjects along with potions.

A few minutes later her mother came into the library. Upon seeming her Lily gave her a gentle smile, absently grabbed that feather necklace she always wore, and asked, "Reading again Marzanna? You're starting to become a bookworm you know."

That feather necklace was the other exception that she refused to follow Potter on. He was always demanding she take it off, but she refused every single time. Her mother had only spoken of it to her once, she'd confessed to Marzanna that she found it in their hotel room the morning after she met Dante, her father. Which made her defying James' demands she get rid of it incredibly confusing, she should be utterly devoted to him and willing to do whatever he told her to, because of the amortentia. Not clinging to a memento of her father.

The entire situation baffled her. She shook herself from her thoughts, then smiled at her mother and said, "Your one to talk, I get it from you."

Lily laughed then said while smiling, "To true, my little Marzanna."

Marzanna smiled absently in return, but inwardly was beginning to plan. She'd made her decision, she'd never be able to forgive herself if she didn't try to help her mother.

* * *

 

Lily was confused. Her mind had slowly began to clear the day before, and now she was once again herself. She'd only been under the amortentia for a dozen years though, she though it would be longer till James stopped using it. She wasn't complaining though, she might not be able to divorce or leave him, but that didn't stop her from hexing him. Though she was a bit worried, she hadn't seen her baby girl in a few days.

When she got near Potter's study, she heard Dumbledore asking him something. Deciding it was better to curse James after finding out what was going on, she started eavesdropping. Dumbledore asked, "How could you have possibly run out of amortentia? I just delivered that batch three weeks ago, you should have two months' worth!"

James growled in anger than furiously said, "It was that little bitch Marzanna. She ruined my **_entire_ ** stock! I knew she'd be nothing but trouble!"

Dumbledore barely let him finish before exclaiming, " _She **what?!**_ Does she have _any_ idea how much some of its ingredients cost?!" Reigning in his temper a bit, he stopped shouting, merely continuing in a furious tone, "I've never minded the cost, but I do mind when my money is practically thrown away. Where is the brat, I'd like to have a **word** with her about destroying valuables."

James snorted, "She's not here anymore, good riddance. Since she feels inclined to ruin my stuff and my life despite my generosity, I took her back to where she came from. I apparated over to America with her and left her there four days ago, after punishing her of course."

Dumbledore sighed, then said, "I wish you hadn't done that, despite what she did it doesn't change the fact she might have been useful later. Oh well, what's done is done. I'll refill your stock as soon as I can."

Lily had barely heard Dumbledore. She'd stiffened, her mind blanking for a moment before she furiously thought, _'_ ** _What?!_** _He abandoned my little girl?! She could be dead now because of him!'_

With that though Lily's fury took over, and she drew her wand, barged into the room, pointed her wand at the startled James, and all but screamed, "How dare you do that to my baby?! Crucio!"

James feel to the ground screaming. It was over in a few seconds though, as Dumbledore was quick to disarm her with a simple expelliarmus. Then Dumbledore said, "My, my, Lily. I didn't know you had it in you."

Lily just ignored him, glaring at the slowly standing, wide eyed James, and said with cold fury, "My precious baby girl is probably dead now because of you. You better watch your back Potter, because some day you'll die a slow agonizing death, and it will be at my hands. Until then I'll just have to settle for loathing you with every fiber if my being."

Dumbledore returned the favor of being ignored, and told James, "Until I get you more amortentia it would be best if we keep her asleep, either with a potion or a stupefy."

James just nodded, still staring at Lily with wide eyes.

* * *

 

Dante, Nero, and Kat were raiding one of Agnus' bases. Nero had been furious when he learned the asshole who held Kyrie hostage was still alive. The fact that Agnus hadn't stopped his foul experiments, and was in fact working for actual demons now hadn't helped his mood. Originally Dante had just wanted to blow the place up and be done with it, but Kat wouldn't let him, explaining that they should raid the place for information out anything useful before destroying it. Nero had at first agreed with Dante, then switched to Kat's approach. He'd really only wanted to destroy Agnus' lab as minor payback, and to spite the cowardly bastard, but Kat said they could blow the place up when they were done. He figured stealing the bastards' research, knowledge, and stuff, possibly using it against him, **and** destroying his lab was better payback than just blowing the place up.

Nero had just finished combing one of the storage rooms when over the headset Kat said, "Dante, Nero, I found Agnus' lab, and I've already managed to access the computer. There's two audio files you guys might wanna come hear."

Once at the lab, Dante asked, "What's so important that you couldn't just copy the files and show us later?"

Kat glanced at Dante before answering, "A combination of Agnus and his demon masters plans, research, and something Agnus found."

Instead of saying anything more when they gave her confused looks, Kat just started the first recording. Immediately Agnus' annoying voice filled the room, "August 17th, 2014. The demons have tasked me with creating a true Hell Gate, not the second rate ones I made of Fortuna Island. The biggest reason being that my Fortuna Hell Gates were barely stable enough to let a single Great Demon in, while the real one would let them come through in swarms. The problem is that Sparda's seal prevents the real Gate from being created, the only reason mine work was _because_ it was so unstable and weak. With the seal in place only weak demons can access the human world. Creating a Hell Gate is easy if you know what you're doing, that damn seal is the hard part. The seal cannot be broken without the blood of Sparda or close kin, and quite a bit of blood to boot, enough to kill a human. Previously the only known kin were Dante and the assumed dead Vergil, hence the difficulty of acquiring the necessary blood. However some investigation revealed evidence that Nero, formerly of Fortuna's Order of the Sword, is in fact Vergil's son. I had a small bit of blood from both Nero and Dante from their fight when Dante attempted to kill Sanctus, and though Dante certainly isn't Vergil, as his twin his blood is close enough that I was able to confirm the relation. That being said, I can't use Nero either, like Dante he's simply too powerful to even attempt to capture and detain. In the meantime, I've created a few of my bastardized Hell Gates for the demons I'm working for to use."

Here Kat paused the recording, to let the two process what they heard. Nero was in utter shock, Dante on the other hand didn't, instead he just asked Nero, "You ok kid?"

Nero turned in shock, then asked in return, "You knew? Why didn't you tell me?"

Dante shook his head, "I didn't _know_ , I suspected. There's a difference, and I didn't say anything in case I was wrong."

Nero let out a quiet, "Oh."

Dante gestured for Kat to continue, so she turned the recording back on, "However Nero being Vergil's son got me thinking, and that lead to another investigation fueled discovery. A little girl by the name of Marzanna, who just so happens to be Dante's daughter. She's already been tracked down and acquired as I'm recording this. I'll have to be extremely careful not to accidentally kill her with my experimentation, but I cannot allow the opportunity to study a Nephilim to slip through my fingers. Not only a Nephilim but a demon from the Devil species, which Mundus wiped out completely, with the only exception to the massacre being Sparda."

The recording stopped, and Kat said, "That's the end of that one." Turning to the two males, this time she found Dante swaying on his feet in shock, and Nero was only slightly better off.

After a minute Dante uncharacteristically squeaked, "Daughter. I have a daughter. Oh dear Lord, I'm a father?!"

Nero looked to him before commenting lightly, "It's to be expected, given your playboy tendencies. You can only get lucky with condoms so many times Dante. I'm more concerned about what the asshole Agnus will do to that poor little girl. Experimenting on her is bad enough, but he's going to use her to make a true Hell Gate, which might just kill her. Fucking Bastard."

Dante nodded in agreement, and Kat hummed. Then Dante said, "Considering the bombshells in that recording I'm hesitant to say this, but go ahead and play the next recording Kat."

Kat turned back to the computer nodding, then a moment later Agnus' voice once again filled the lab, "Subject Marzanna basic pre-experimentation information:

Name: Marzanna Evans

Date of Birth: July 31st, 2008

Age: 6

Height: 3' 4"

Weight: 47 Pounds

Eye color: Green

Hair color: Strangely and surprisingly, naturally three colors. Bangs are red, the rest it primarily black with streaks of the silverish white that Dante and Nero have.

Initial observations: Originally one of my machines detected a strange energy around her left arm, disrupting to leads me to believe it was an illusion of some sort, as her left arm is almost exactly like Nero's Devil Bringer. Marzanna's Devil Bringer is the only visible thing of interest about her.

Notes: I'll have to find a way to contain that arms power. Subject has already shown she knows how to use it, perhaps the Devil Bringer comes with instinctive knowledge on using it, as I recall Nero being incredibly proficient with his as well.

Date, August 20th, 2014. My experiments have finally begin giving me useful data about the Devil Bringer, I believe that rather than being born with it the Devil Bringer is forms when a Devil is in danger. I've read about and spoken to other demons about Devils before, from what I learned when a Devil is in life threatening danger that is when their _true_ power begins to awaken. What my study of Marzanna's Devil Bringer has shown me, it's that a Devil Bringer forms when a Devil with impure blood is in danger, but not enough danger to awaken the infamous 'Devil Trigger'. The blood needs to be impure, though it seems Angel blood won't work. The reason for this is that all Devils instinctively know their limits, and part Devils do to, but for a Devil of impure blood, that instinctive knowledge is just slightest bit hazy. So when they feel threatened their demonic energy will surge forth, but they don't properly control it. Since even demons are prone to instinctively bringing their arms up to defend themselves, the arm that will take the brunt of the attack receives the most demonic energy. That arm becomes overcharged with more energy than its human form can handle, causing it to permanently 'Devil Trigger'. Unless the Devil Bringer's abilities of creating a phantom arm and absorption are somehow brought about by the demonic overload, then this means that any Devil should be capable of using these abilities, so long as they either possess a Devil Bringer, or are in 'Devil Trigger'. A bit strange a six year old awakened it, considering the danger she'd have to be in. Though this is easily explained by my examination of her. Hey body was littered with scars making it obvious she's lived a life of constant abuse. Considering how injured she'd have to be for the healing abilities that all Devils and Angels have to be incapable of being her well enough to not leave scars, I would have been surprised if she **_didn't_ ** awaken her Devil Bringer."

Date, August 26th, 2014. The girl is definitely related to Dante and Nero, she has that same defiant, sarcastic, and sardonic attitude, correction she's **worse** , at least I could put up with _them_. If she isn't insulting me or telling me to do some rather unspeakable acts to myself, she's attempting to escape, killing my new bianco and alto angelos, destroying my precious research, and just generally causing pure chaos in the process. I'm understandably finding my tolerance for her waning. To be blunt, she's driving me insane, on more than one occasion I've found myself having to have her removed from my presence purely so I don't **strangle** her." This drew amused grins from all three, dispelling some of the fury that had set in upon hearing of Marzanna's abuse, the recording continued after a brief pause with Agnus muttering angrily in the background.

Date, August 28th. I spoke to one of the demons I'm working for a few days ago, upon informing her of Marzanna's continued escape attempts she informed me that there were humans capable of magic, _actual_ **magic**! Anyway she then suggested that since the ability to use magic is hereditary, it was a distinct possibility that Marzanna's mother, and Marzanna herself, were magic users. It took a bit, and I only managed to confirm her suggestion a few hours ago, but Marzanna is indeed a witch. It explains how time after time she manages to escape her bindings, so I'm going to have to invent something that prevents the use of magic. That should put a stop to Marzanna's would be escapes."

Date September 7th it took a bit of effort and a stroke of genius, but I managed to create an arm band that stopped Marzanna from using not only her magic, but her Devil Bringer as well. The device was finished on August 2nd, and so far there have been no more escape attempts. Though I'm not holding my breath that this trend will stick around, Marzanna has proven to be incredibly adaptive. Also it's been decided, Marzanna will be transferred to the base we plan to create the Hell Gate in, on September 30th."

Nero exclaimed, "The 30th?! That was three days ago! They've probably already made the **_real_ ** Hell Gate!"

Dante shook his head, before saying, "No. They would have to build the gates physical anchor _after_ they broke my father's seal. They probably prepared the ritual to break the seal in advance, but the ritual takes two days to compete. If she arrived to where they were making the gate on the 30th they've only had a day to begin construction, if not the ritual might not even be complete as we speak. However we shouldn't linger any longer. Kat transfer the computer files, we need to finish raiding and destroying this place **_now_**."

And with that they got back to work, all three distracted by the worry of Marzanna's fate.


	2. Finding Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Sorry for the bad description, but the thing Dante pulls out of his pocket later is supposed to be a smart phone and it's showing text messages.

Vergil was sitting in his cell, trying to get some sleep when the door to the prison area burst open and banged against the wall. He jerked up and looked towards the door with horror, thinking all the while, 'Mundus couldn't have caught Dante. Not Dante please. Not Nero either. If there's a God I'm begging you.' Despite what Dante might believe he loved his brother and son dearly. It was true that Vergil had attempted to open the real Hell Gate, but what Dante didn't know was that Vergil used to have a soulmate. She died when Nero was 7 months old, Vergil managed to resist the temptation to commit suicide, but realized two months later that he was beginning to lose his mind. So to protect Nero from his own father he left him at an orphanage, after making sure it wasn't run by demons like the one Dante grew up in of course. It was why he'd done those despicable things, because he'd been mad with grief. When he'd stayed behind when the Hell Gate began to destabilize, Mundus had captured him. He'd been very shocked to find out that **both** his parents were alive, just captured by Mundus. It had taken them a bit, but his parents had broken him out of his grief induced insanity. That wasn't too say he was an angel, no joke intended, he was still as Dante would put it 'a cold asshole', but he no longer wanted to rule or destroy the world and loved his family, even if he still didn't usually show it.

Mundus walked in and ran his gaze over the three occupants, all in separate cells, while a demon dragged someone in by their hair. It appeared to be a little girl. Sparda stood up in his cell and asked, "And just what has a poor little girl done to you, that you feel the urge to lock her up down here Mundus? I thought you had reserved this high security area for me and my family, hmm?"

Mundus snorted then smirked, before saying, "She was born, and I did. I suppose I should induce you, traitorous Sparda meet Marzanna your granddaughter, Dante's daughter."

* * *

Marzanna heard a feminine gasp, a sharp 'bastard' from the male who'd spoken earlier, and someone almost whisper 'Dante? She's Dante's?'. She temporarily ignored all of this though. Instead being careful not to get caught, she hooked the stupid arm band that kept her from using the majority of her powers on the strange piece of armor around the hips of demon who was holding her, the armor almost looked like a spiked belt, with the spikes going up and down the demons body instead on jutting out. She made sure to hook the metal arm band in such a way the demon would have to break the band, she knew this 'Mundus' wouldn't let it break her arm, she heard him tell Agnus he wanted to wait till he had her whole family, then execute them all in a public event. Since that strange ritual they'd done to her had almost killed her, he wouldn't let the demon remove her arm when she was so close to death already.

Sure enough when the demon went to deposit her in her new cell and found the arm band stuck, Mundus stopped the demon from ripping her arm off by saying, "Don't. It's amazing she survived the ritual to break Sparda's seal, but since she has she'll be executed when I get my hands on the last two of her family. So I won't have you killing her now. Just break the arm band, it was just so her human watchers could control her demonic powers, which the cell does anyway, so it isn't needed anymore."

Once the stupid band was off and she was in her cell, she continued listening, waiting for them to leave. She was getting out of here and no one was stopping her this time. Mundus and Sparda continued to banter for a while, then finally Mundus and the demon who was carrying her left. Activating the ability she'd absorbed from the great demon she killed in Agnus' base, she cracked her eyes open and scanned the other three occupants that were supposedly her family. The abilities were ocular based, and did many, many things. Amongst those abilities was night vision, thermal vision, the ability to see the flow of demonic and angelic energy, and see magic. Since she could see the flow of multiple energies when the ability was active, she was able to tell if someone was using an illusion or was a doppelganger demon. Her mother had said that her father very briefly spoke of his twin brother, Vergil. Since he wasn't a doppelganger or under an illusion, she knew he was the real deal, and as he had identified the other two as his parents during the conversation she knew they were really her grandparents as well, since they weren't doppelgangers or under illusions. Though her father told her mother that his brother and parents were dead, but she figured that if they were imprisoned in Hell, it was an easy mistake. Even if her father was a Nephilim and demon Hunter, something she'd learned from Agnus' research in his library, which she stole everything from, stored it all in her mother's trunk, and burned the library bad enough that Agnus wouldn't know it was all gone instead of destroyed.

Now that she knew they were really her family and not some ploy by Agnus or the demons, she stopped feigning unconsciousness. Being careful of her injuries from that foul ritual the demons did, she slowly sat up and began pumping magic and angelic energy to her wounds starting with the worst. With the ability she gained from the great demon Agnus had been draining she could see seals that completely blocked the use of demonic energy so she didn't try to heal herself with that, but it only stopped the destructive abilities of angelic energy so she could heal herself that way. She wondered if Mundus didn't know she was a witch, which was unlikely, or was just too arrogant to think she could get away with magic, the far more likely scenario.

Normally her wounds would have healed automatically, but that strange ritual tainted her injuries with a horribly type of demonic energy that stopped her natural healing abilities, so she first purified the energy with her magic and angelic energy. Once it was gone her angelic healing kicked in automatically, as she knew it would.

Sighing in relief when her injuries began to close, she turned her attention to the shackles around her wrists. Eva, apparently she was her grandmother, quietly said, "I'm glad to see your starting to heal Little One, but I wouldn't bother with the shackles or chains. Sparda, Vergil, and I have tried for years. Those seals are thorough, it's impossible to use angelic or demonic abilities, well rather the angelic abilities that could break them."

Marzanna looked at her just staring for a minute, then looked back to the chains saying, "I don't know about you lady, but I'm getting the fuck out of this hellhole, no pun intended. That Mundus guy is arrogant. I'm not about to pass up the opportunity that fucking bastard's foolish arrogance gives me."

Sparda and Eva got pinched looks on their faces at her language, but Vergil just laughed then said, "Well your defiantly Dante's kid, you talk like a more intelligent version of him. Foul language and tendency to insult everyone and all, hell even that 'you can't fucking stop me' attitude. Anyway, since I'm now apparently an uncle, how old are you Little One?"

Without glancing up she said, "Stop calling me little, I'm six thank you very much." Having come to a conclusion about the chains she hummed then cast a wandless spell with a sharp, "Delebo!" The chains disintegrated immediately at her command.

Sparda and Eva both made startled sounds, but once again Vergil just laughed. Then he laughingly commented more to himself than anyone else, "Of course you are. Dante's luck as a playboy gives out and he has a kid, but this is Dante so of course his luck just happened to give out when he was sleeping with a witch. That's just Dante's luck isn't it?"

Ignoring Vergil's muttering she looked at the three and said, "Unless you guys have been in here so long you've come to like being imprisoned, I'm going to assume you're coming with. However I'm warning you now. I don't know you, and I certainly don't fucking **_trust_** you, but I'm not the type to leave people behind, so I'll tell you once and only once. You may apparently be related to me, you may even be angels/demons and older than me, but I won't fucking **hesitate** to _end_ you if you betray me."

They started at her for a minute wondering what kind of life could make a child say a threat like that and more importantly mean it completely and utterly, but they all pushed those thoughts away and each nodded their assent. Marzanna nodded sharply in return, and quickly freed all three.

* * *

Dante was in limbo, the first layer of hell. When he, Nero, and Kat had finally made it to the facility the Hell Gate was being created it, they found the Gate finished though it was obvious it had only been finished sometime in the past 1-2 hours. A plan had been made quickly. Real Hell Gates had two physical anchors, one in hell the other in the human world. All the energy that flowed through the gates really did was just connect the two anchors like a bridge. So Dante was going into hell to destroy the anchor on that side, while he was doing that Nero would simultaneously destroy the anchor in the human world. If Dante wasn't a Devil this would leave him trapped in hell, but Devils had a unique ability to cross between the two dimensions at will. The only reason him and Vergil hadn't done this when they were younger was because neither of them knew how to use that ability back then, though Dante had figured out how to do it in the time since Vergil's death.

So Dante was currently looking for the anchor for the Gate that resided in hell. Just as he found it though, he heard a male exclaiming, "Dante?!"

He knew that voice, would recognize it **_anywhere_** , but that was impossible he was _dead_! Turning sharply on his heel he started at the source for almost a full minute trying to find his voice, which seemed to have uncharacteristically disappeared as soon as he laid eyes on him. Eventually though, he managed to force words out, "Vergil? How?! I thought you were dead! Prove it's really you, that you aren't a doppelganger demon. If you are a fake, I swear I'll fucking **kill** you for such trespass."

Vergil smiled lightly then said, "I'm surprised you'd react so violently towards a doppelganger, purely for taking my form. Anyway, proof huh? Hmm, do you remember that time in Egypt, when your playboy tendencies-"

He didn't get to finish, as Dante completely embarrassed abruptly said, "Ok! It's you I get it. Though I thought we agreed never to mention that?"

Vergil chuckled amusement clear in his eyes, "No you said we'd never speak of it again, I never responded. So I never agreed to anything."

Dante stared at him for a while then said, "If you hadn't just given me proof you were really you, I would think you were a fake right now. Since when are so amused, and that amusement not be dark morbid amusement?"

Vergil turned to look at something behind him, it was only then that Dante noticed that there was a bit of a cliff. Well it was more like it was incredibly steep steps than a cliff, Vergil shook him from his observations when he bent to look down to cliff/steps and absently said to Dante, "I'll explain later." Then clearly speaking to someone else, he continued, "Is she ok? Or do you need help, I know being in those cells for so long weakened you both."

A low male voice replied, to quiet for Dante to properly make out either the words or the man's voice. There was a brief pause then the male said something else, and Vergil nodded before he reached down and carefully grabbed something, while saying, "Come on Little One up you get, and no protesting you still haven't fully healed." Then obviously speaking to the male again he continued, "Are you sure you don't need help with her?"

The male huffed and said something else causing Vergil to nod and straighten. This revealed who he'd picked up, though Dante had never seen her he instantly recognized the tri colored hair that Agnus had described. He stiffened a bit his mind racing, focused on one thing only, 'Marzanna. My daughter. That's my daughter Marzanna. The daughter I only just learned of. Oh dear God!'

Dante felt like he was going to feint. First Vergil, now his daughter? What next? For the rest of his life afterwards Dante could never figure out how he stayed conscious, when abruptly Vergil leaned down with his hand extended, and a moment later another hand grabbed his. Then without further ado, his supposedly dead mother climbed up the steps with Vergil's help, even more shocking she took Marzanna and Vergil promptly helped their father up. His parents. They-But-They were **_dead_**! They'd been dead since he and Vergil were seven! How?! He wasn't complaining by **any** definition of the word, but still _how_?

Eva, his precious dear mother, turned to him once his father was safely up. Smiling she walked over to him and said in a quiet obviously tired voice, "Dante. It's so good to see you. Though I must confess, I'd given up hope that we'd escape a while ago, so for a while I didn't want to see you or Vergil, since it meant Mundus had captured you. Still, I missed you so much."

He stared to her in wide eyed silence for a while, then desperately looked at Vergil over her shoulder, Vergil nodded at the unasked question. Dante immediately turned his gaze back to Eva, tears appearing in his eyes. He only managed to hold that small bit of composure he had left for a moment, then he cast it aside and engulfed his mother in a hug burrowing his face in the juncture between her neck and shoulder, as he used to when he was a kid. Though he was careful with it, his mother had been imprisoned for years, so she was probably incredibly weakened, and he didn't want to hurt her. Besides she was still holding Marzanna, and he didn't want to aggravate the injuries that were littering her body, nor did he wish to crush her.

Eva reached up with one hand and carded her fingers through his hair comforting him like she used to when he was a child. After a moment she gently said, "While I normally wouldn't mind. We need to get going Dante."

He stepped back a second later, then asked, "I'm assuming you guys can't to cross to the human world on your own, or you wouldn't have come this far from wherever Mundus was holding you."

Vergil nodded, then said, "Though it was very unlikely we would succeed since Mundus no doubt has it under ridiculously tight security, we heard that he'd broken dad's seal and made a Hell Gate, so we were going to attempt to escape that way."

Dante snorted, then pointed down the overhanging of the cliff he'd been standing on when Vergil had called out to him, replying with, "While I know your skilled Vergil, and I assume the others are your all injured, besides your unarmed. So damn straight you would've failed. See for yourself."

The other walked up to the cliff and looked down, Vergil immediately cursed violently. The area was swarmed with demons, it would be impossible with their current conditions. He turned back to Dante and said, "I might have been able to put up enough of a fight for them to get through if I had Yamato, but it was broken." Then after a pause he sarcastically added, "Don't suppose you know of a conveniently unguarded back door?"

Dante grinned before he responded with, "Matter of fact, I do." Seeing Vergil jerk in surprise, and the other three gape at him, he said to Vergil, "In fact, you know it too. Oh and Yamato was repaired a while ago, I'm sure the kid wouldn't mind giving it back to its owner since you're alive." Ignoring Vergil's confused look, he pushed his hair out of the way, and pressed a button on a device that looked like a Bluetooth, and said, "Hey Kat you there. Good. Listen I've got some people here. No I'll explain later just trust me, Ok? So than can you-. No I wasn't insinuating you're incapable, I just didn't want to assume you knew of a rift nearby, preferable _not_ anywhere near the Gate. Gotcha, Nero can you head over and guard it so no demons get through? Thanks kid. Be there soon."

With that he pulled something out of his pocket and messed with its screen a bit, then the screen showed something with Kat's name at the top and little bubbles with messages coming from either side at intervals. The most recent one showed a string on numbers that seemed to be coordinates, since he immediately began to lead them off.

After they'd made it to the portal and gone through, Kat gasped and exclaimed, "Vergil?! You're alive!"

Vergil nodded at Kat, and quietly said, "Ya, I am. Kat I- I'm sorry about before. I should explain. You see I had a soulmate, but she died I managed to resist the usual suicide, but I-I kinda went crazy. That's why I tried to do what I did, and why I treated you how I did. I'm still not fine, but now I'm at least mostly sane. I know you probably can never forgive me, but I truly am sorry for my actions and behavior."

Kat searched his face for a moment, then seemed to find what she was looking for, as tears appeared in her eyes and she hugged Vergil tightly while saying, "It's ok Vergil. I may not have a soulmate but I know people who do, and I know the madness that can come purely from them being in danger, for your mate to be dead-" She cut herself off before saying, "I may never be able to understand the pain you were in, but I do understand your actions now. So you're forgiven."

Nero stayed quiet, staring at the man who was his supposedly dead, but apparently alive father. He figured his father's soulmate was his mother, and wondered if her death was why he was left at that orphanage on Fortuna Island. Dante broke him from his thoughts by saying to him, "Oi, kid. Vergil's not really in any condition to fight, but you wanna give him back Yamato just in case?"

Vergil turned and immediately stiffened, now that he thought about it Dante had said over that headpiece the name 'Nero'. He hadn't realized it till now, as he was busy keeping an eye out for demons. Now though, his son was standing right in front of him, he was much older that the seven month old Vergil last saw, but it didn't matter he recognized his son anyway. Nero nodded, and lifted his right arm, it was strange it looked like his arm was Devil Triggered, but the rest of him was in human form. Then out of the part of his arm that seemed cracked open with a blue glow coming from inside, an energy of the same color began to flow out, abruptly it expanded and solidified, becoming the ever familiar Yamato. Vergil accepted Yamato when Nero extended it to him.

Dante then butted in asking, "Are they down?"

Nero nodded and said, "Ya the charges are set on the Hell Gates anchor, we're just waiting on you, unless you managed to set the explosives before you found them?"

Dante shook his head, but before he could reply Sparda spoke up, "Destroying the Hell Gate is all well and good, but unless we recreate my seal they'll just make another one in a few days."

Dante frowned and said, "Ya I know, but I don't know how your seal is done, and you're in no condition to do it."

Sparda shook his head responding immediately, "It doesn't matter. We can't afford to let them get and use an operational Hell Gate. It would be disastrous. Besides the ritual only requires demonic energy and my blood. The blood isn't a problem, a few drops will do, it's the demonic energy that's the hard part. The ritual to make the seal requires a ridiculous amount."

Before Dante could respond Nero cut in, "Dante. He knows how to do the seal, and we can use his blood. I can supply the energy, so get going and set the charges."

Dante looked at him for a minute then nodded and said, "I can see you're not going to budge, so I won't bother arguing. Just make sure you keep them safe kid, ya hear?"

Nero nodded his understanding.

Once the Gate was destroyed and Sparda's seal in place, they'd all gotten in Dante and Kat's cars and left. The only reason both cars were there was because Kat left before them to scout the area. When they arrived Dante soon discovered that Marzanna had fallen asleep on the way, so he gently picked her up and went inside. Immediately he came onto the scene of Lady and Trish armed and eyeing Vergil wearily, despite Kat and Nero's reassurances.

He felt Marzanna stir in his arms and frowned, she'd been exhausted by the time they'd all gotten in the cars, so he didn't want her to wake up. Dante was usually laid back, and rarely commanding, but while they mostly did whatever they pleased he _was_ the one with final say. So mustering up the commanding tone he rarely used, but making sure to be quite enough not to wake Marzanna, he snapped, "Lady, Trish that is enough! Put your weapons away **now**. Yes my brother has done some horrible stuff in the past, but it's different now. I will explain, but _only_ after I put Marzanna in the guest bedroom. So keep your voices down. I won't have you waking her."

He didn't walk away just yet though, giving them his incredibly rare stern glare, waiting for them to put their guns away. Once they'd done that and backed away from Vergil, Dante nodded sharply and went upstairs to put Marzanna in bed.

Since Nero and Trish constantly went back and forth teasing and purposely trying to get each other in trouble, he childishly said in a sing song tone, "Oooh someone's in trouble."

Trish glared then smirked, not bothering to reply. Instead she just waited for Nero's personal Armageddon, which she knew was coming. Sure enough a moment later Kyrie called in an overly sweet voice, "Nero? Is that you? You were supposed to be home two days ago."

Nero blanched then heatedly demanded in a hiss at Trish, "What did you do?! She only uses that tone when she's royally pissed, and she's always understanding of the fact that hunts can take longer than expected **unless** you say something to her. So don't try to act dumb or innocent!"

Trish just smirked evilly, before shrugging and saying, "I haven't the faintest clue. The only thing I said to her about you being late was that she was lucky you two were soulmates since you were with playboy Dante. After all the chances of him dragging you to some strip club or some other place was quite high, so she was lucky that as your soulmate you only had eyes for her."

Nero glared murderously at her, then at Kyrie's sharp 'Nero!', called back to her, "Coming!" Before mumbling to Kat, "If you'll excuse me, I've got some hardcore Groveling/Explaining to do."

Kat snickered into her hand before quietly saying back a quick, "Good luck. You'll need it."

Once he was gone Vergil whirled towards Kat and asked, "Does Dante really take him to strip clubs and stuff?"

Kat rapidly shook her head before explaining, "No he doesn't. However Trish and Nero not only tease one another, but are constantly trying to get each other in trouble. So Trish _implies_ all sorts of lies to Kyrie, who continues to listen to her since she never outright tells lies, just implies."

Vergil sighed in relief. He really didn't want to have to murder his little brother after seeing him for the first time in years, especially since his most of his sanity had finally returned.


	3. Of Fatalities and Laughter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Mortal Kombat either. It's only mentioned but still.

 Marzanna woke up in an extremely soft bed, something that hadn't happened since Agnus caught her. For a moment she just lay there, trying to figure out where she could be, when she realized she didn't remember the full car ride after escaping hell, she decided she must've fallen asleep. She rolled in her back with a look of contemplation on her face, yesterday she'd met her father and his family. She wasn't sure what to think of that to be perfectly honest, on one hand they were family, on the other she didn't know these people at all.

Deciding she wouldn't reach any solid conclusions just laying there, and that her rumbling stomach needed attention she got up. She needed a shower since she was covered in dried blood, but she didn't know where it was. So she went to find someone and ask. Luck was on her side momentarily, as hesitating for a moment unsure which direction to go led to her still being in the hallway when the younger guy from yesterday came out of another room down the hall, she thought the others called him Nero.

When she spoke up to get his attention he turned around and stared in shock for a minute, then after regaining his composure he said, "So you're awake. That's good, though we all expected you to sleep longer with your injuries, and low magic and demonic energy. Oh well, what did you need kiddo?"

She shrugged then said, "I'm sure you already know demonic energy regenerates rather quickly, obviously it's even faster when it's not being used. Magic is similar, so rather than use either, I healed myself with my angelic abilities and let the others regenerate. Anyway, I just wanted to know where a shower was, I'm still caked in dried blood from that foul ritual the bastard Agnus used me for."

Her nose wrinkled at the last part, and he seemed rather understanding of her plight if his expression was anything to go by. So he was quick to show her where the bathroom was, though he warned her they hadn't had time to get her any cloths yet, and was promptly confused when she said she already had it covered. He just shrugged off his confusion though, and told her where the kitchen was so she could go get something to eat when she was done.

After showering she pulled some cloths from her mother's trunk, she'd had a suspicion she'd be out on her ass if she tried to help her mother, so she's packed all of her belongings in it beforehand. She figured it was probably safe to say it was her trunk at this point. Though technically if she were being honest, some of that stuff was Potter's, like the dark arts books he wouldn't miss, or even appreciate properly if he did, those were stored in the library compartment of her trunk.

Now showered and dressed, she headed downstairs for some food. Upon entering the kitchen she found what she assumed was everyone in the house having breakfast. When they all turned to her Dante said, "Ah. Nero told us you were awake. Though I'm kinda curious were you got the clothes. Whatever, we should get you back to your mother soon, she's probably worried."

From their expressions, it seemed they'd already talked about returning her home, though some of them didn't seem happy about it. She hummed then replied, "I had my clothes with me." Rather than properly elaborating at their obvious confusion, she only said, "Magic. Though you're probably right, she likely misses me, but taking me back might be a problem."

Dante huffed at her purposely vague answer, but asked, "Why would there be a problem?"

As they'd been talking a woman with reddish brown hair had ushered her to the table, where she'd sat in the only available seat in between Dante, who was at one of the corners, and Nero, then the woman got her a plate of food. She'd smiled in thanks and stared eating as Dante was asking his question, so she swallowed her food before answering, "My mom's married to a fucking asshole, and he kicked me out almost three months ago. He's not going to let me go back. Not to mention I'm British. While I doubt you'd have much problems getting me back to the UK, you'd have to take me back, and then convince douche bag to let me stay there again."

Dante frowned, looking thoughtful before seeming to remember something, and began murmuring, "Evans. Agnus' recording said your last name was Evans." When Marzanna nodded her confirmation to her name, he hummed before continuing, "Your mom wouldn't happen to be Lily Evans would she? I remember her, lovely woman rather feisty too. Didn't know she was a witch."

Marzanna nodded again, but strangely Vergil choked on his drink, most of the others looked startled too. Once he noticed their incredulous staring Dante barked a sharp, "What?"

Vergil just tilted his head still staring before finally explaining, "You don't usually even remember your, Ah, " Quick glance at Marzanna, " _companions_ name the next day, much less anything about them, but this would've had to have been six, perhaps seven years ago. Just- It's strange for you to remember her and her name."

Dante huffed as though offended, and looked off to the side, then shocking the others further, gained a fond smile, before quietly saying, "Ya well, there was something special about Lily, alright?" Turning back to Marzanna he looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing, "Now that I think about it, didn't Agnus' recordings say you'd been abused. Lily isn't the type to do something as despicable as hitting a child, so I'm assuming it was her husband, though Lily didn't seem like the type to even put up with that shit either, so maybe I pegged her wrong. I-I'd actually somehow forgotten about that in the panic to destroy the Hell Gate, so I can't really send you back in good conscience anyway."

Marzanna shook her head, "No. My mom isn't the type to allow something like that to happen, but that's only when she's herself." Now they were confused again, so she sighed and continued, "You already know me and my mother are magicals, but my so called stepfather, James Potter, is too. He's a rather despicable man who will do practically anything to get what he wants. He isn't even above say, doping the woman he's obsessed with, with love potion for a dozen years so far." Everyone around the table had mixed looks of disgust and anger, mostly disgust for the guys and anger on the woman's faces, though Dante was strongly both, but she continued regardless, "Worse yet, Potter is a 'Pure Blood', the magical version of being a noble. Disgusting prejudiced British wizard law says that since he's of pure blood and my mother isn't, holding her under love potion is perfectly legal, though he hides it anyway."

Nero abruptly cut in exclaiming, "That's fucking foul! Just because someone isn't a so called pure blood it's ok to enslave them?! That's sick!"

It was obvious everyone else agreed with him, but she sighed again and explained, "To the British wizarding world in general, blood status is everything. Pure bloods are people who can trace their lineage back at least 300 years with no unpure blood 'staining' it. Non-magical born, or 'Muggle-Born' are those who are born to non-magicals, though technically there's no such thing as a true Muggle-Born since the ability to use magic is purely hereditary, which really just means these people are unaware of having a magical ancestor. Pure bloods often use the derogatory name 'Mudblood' for them, since in the UK a common bullshit mindset is 'Pure Blood superiority', and that belief says that non-magicals are filthy uncultured animals. Then there are half-bloods, they only have one pure blood parent. Their usually seen with scorn as living proof of a pure line being sullied. You've also got squibs, people who are born to magical families, but have practically no magic to speak of, some don't have any at all, but most have enough for any wards that react to non-magicals to leave them alone, though not enough to cast magic. The laws favor pure bloods heavily, since half-bloods have one pure blooded parent they enjoy _most_ of the same **_legal_** favoritism, even if the people don't like them. Squibs are considered shameful failures for lacking magic, even though they can't help being born that way. Muggle-borns don't really have many rights, they'll always have problems getting jobs, will never get a high ranking position in any magical business of considerable size, and just generally don't have good lives in the magical world. Really, most wouldn't bat an eye if they knew my mother was under a love potion, honestly pure bloods can get away with practically everything but murdering Muggle-borns."

Dante scowled and said, "That right there is one of the few things I hate about humans. That they seem to have a need to degrade other people just because they aren't similar."

Nero huffed in anger than said, "I'm afraid there will probably always be people taking away the rights others have as sentient creatures, because they believe themselves superior."

Marzanna sighed then cut whatever Dante was about to say off by continuing, "It actually manages to get worse."

Before she could continue Nero butted in again demanding, "How could it possibly get worse?! That's already horrible enough!"

She gazed at him, clearly unhappy with what she was about to say, "Actually Nero, if we were in the British wizarding world, you'd be one of the people to experience first-hand how it gets worse, as you would be labeled by the British Ministry of Magic a Half-Breed, which basically just means you aren't fully human. See all those class differences I spoke about are only applied to humans, non-humans are treated even worst in the UK. Its complete fucking prejudiced bullshit, but to them even the supposed 'filthy uncultured animals' they believe non-magicals to be are better that you. Though to them since you're at least _part_ human your better than Vergil, Dante, and the others, who would be labeled creatures, specifically they'd probably be labeled dark creatures, even Eva. To make matters even **worse** , even with your partial human blood, you'd have **_no_** rights whatsoever. If a pure blood walked up to you and murdered you in the middle of a crowded street, the only thing that would happen to the pure blood once the authorities realized you weren't human would be a questioning. Even then they'd just have to claim they felt threatened by your presence and they'd get away with it without so much as a slap on the wrist."

Understandably, everyone at the table looked horrified at her explanation, then Dante swallowed and said, "Then I suppose we should just be grateful the crazy asshole doping your mother didn't kill you."

Marzanna shook her head before responding, "He wouldn't have risked it. I may be registered under my mother's maiden name in the non-magical world, but Potter made sure I was registered under his last name on the magical side of things. After all, it would be shameful if anyone found out his wife had a child that wasn't his. Claiming the child is theirs isn't uncommon amongst pure bloods whose spouses have kids with someone else. Even if people would've known I wasn't actually his or fully human after my body would've been examined, there would've undoubtedly been people who didn't believe it, and killing what some thought was really his child would've seriously damaged his reputation. It also doesn't help that my mother was subjected to a spell that allows a woman to get pregnant while she's already carrying a child, so me dying and being found to not being Potter's would've made people question how my half-brother could be his, since the spell also made us be born together as twins. No, Potter wouldn't risk any of that."

Dante hummed in understanding. Then he said, "Ah well, while all this is good to know so we know what to expect if any of us have to go to the magical side of the Britain, I wasn't going to send you back anyway." He glanced at Eva and frowned before adding more to himself than Eva, "Though I still don't think I'm capable of raising a kid."

Eva sighed in exasperation, then stated in a manner that made Marzanna sure she'd said it multiple times already, "I told you. Your father and I just got our family back, even if it grew in our absence. We won't be leaving anytime soon. So _I'll **help**_ you, I'm sure you'll get some help from the others as well, you don't have to do it alone Dante."

There was a general agreement to her words, to which Dante rolled his eyes and looked back at her, then after a moment said, "Well kid, I suppose you're with me now. If you're ok with that?" She nodded, after all she'd been lonely since Potter kicked her out, and besides ever since the first and only time her mother told you about Dante, she had wished for a chance to know her father, and this was it. Dante smiled and nodded then continued, "Then I suppose we're going to need to make that guest bedroom you were staying in yours. I'm not complaining about my family being back, but between you, Mom, Dad, and Vergil moving in, I'm gonna need to expand again as that'll only leave us with one guest bedroom, since the rooms were originally for clients who needed extended protection, and Demon Hunter friends meaning we kinda need more than one." He was obviously talking more to himself than her or anyone else when he said this. Then shook his head and asked absently, "I suppose you're going to need clothes and probably other stuff too Marzanna?"

Marzanna shook her head then said, "Nope. I've got all my stuff." Vaguely the thought crossed her mind that she was strangely good at confusing the hell out of this group of angels, demons, and humans especially considering they were in the Demon Hunting business. She shook the thought off and summoned her shrunken trunk from inside her Devil Bringer then explained, "This used to be my mom's. It's enchanted to be much bigger on the inside, shrink at will, and has multiple expanded compartments amongst other things. The reason Potter kicked me out was because I found out about him using love potions on my mom, and then ruined his entire stock of the crap. I figured I'd find myself out on my ass when I decided to destroy his stock, but I wasn't about to just sit back and do nothing. So I just packed all my stuff in here. One of the compartments I told you about is a living area, apparently before Potter began giving her love potions, my mom used it to get away when she was stressed, I was staying in there before I got captured by that bastard Agnus."

Dante was looking at the trunk in curiosity after her explanation, and he wasn't the only one. Shaking his head Dante pulled his gaze from the trunk and looked at her while saying, "Kat designed the guest rooms to be impersonal, so other than getting some stuff to change that about your room your pretty much set. So I suppose since Vergil, Dad, and Mom need clothes, and you all need stuff for your rooms we should probably get going. Much as I hate to say it, we need to go shopping."

Marzanna understood exactly why he hated saying it when a strange gleam appeared in the eyes of Eva, Kat, a blonde woman, a black haired woman, and the woman who fed her. That gleam made her nervous, and it seemed she wasn't the only one, as Nero, Vergil, and Sparda seemed to be in the same boat. Though Dante looked less nervous and more like he'd resigned himself to death. She briefly realized how humorous this was, she'd learned a lot from Agnus about her family and their feats. To think the legendary dark knight Sparda, the legendary devil hunter Dante, the hero of Fortuna Nero, and Vergil who could go toe to toe with Dante, but whose feats up to this point were kinda evil, all terrified.

Correction, terrified of five petite women and shopping. She would've snickered, but she was scared of them to.

* * *

It had been almost two months since Marzanna moved in with her dad, and she was starting to get a bit frustrated. She'd wanted a chance to get to know her dad, but he was _so_ **_awkward_** around her that it was proving... difficult. Not that it was entirely his fault, she was awkward when she was with him as well. She was fairly certain they were driving the others up the wall with their awkwardness. She'd been awkward and unsure towards the rest as well, but unlike Dante they refused to be awkward in return, because of this she'd already begun to get close to them. Nero in particular always went out of his way to make her feel welcome and get to know her, and she was rapidly starting to think of him as an older brother because of it.

Now though she was about to face what would probably be the most awkward two weeks of her life. Sparda and Eva, who were slowly getting familiar with her and getting her to call them grandpa and grandma, had been planning to go visit some of their old allies along with some of the safe houses they'd made to see who could still be called friend and if some of their more useful stuff was still intact and where they left it. Just a few days before they had to leave though, an influx of jobs had come in, leaving just her, grandpa, grandma, and her dad in the house. Even Kyrie had left, though she was just going with Nero to get any civilians out of the way since the jobs he'd taken were just a string off eliminating swarms of smaller demons, but most were in kinda public places. They were supposed to be the first back, but Nero's jobs would keep them busy for at least 12 more days.

Now it was time for grandpa and grandma to leave, Eva fiddled with her coat before asking for the twenty-sixth time, "Are you sure you two will be ok by yourselves? Because me and Sparda can put our trip off till some of the others get back."

Though he didn't _seem_ worried like his wife, she figured grandpa actually was worried too, since he had agreed with her all previous twenty-five times she said this, and he agreed with her now. Dante however just sighed then with a reassuring smile said, "Mom stop worrying, we'll be fine. I promise! You and dad need to see the state of your affairs, so don't worry about us we'll be fine. Now I love you, but you need to get going."

Eva smiled in a worried manner at him, before saying, "Alright, Alright. We'll be leaving now, I love you too Dante." Then looking at her Eva said, "I love you as well sweetheart, behave for your father please. Not that you usually cause much trouble, but still."

Marzanna smiled and replied with a simple, "Of course grandma. I love you and grandpa. Be careful."

Eva placed a kiss on her forehead then turned and headed for the door. Sparda ruffled her hair and murmured a quiet, "Love you too kiddo." Then he and Eva left.

Dante gave a strange huffing sigh then looking at her wearily said, "So. What should we do?"

* * *

When Nero and Kyrie entered the house they expected at find an atmosphere of pure awkward. Instead they were pleasantly surprised to find Dante and Marzanna in the living room, two boxes of pizza on the coffee table, and the two playing video games. More specifically they seemed to be playing Mortal Kombat, and Dante seemed to be losing. Badly.

Dante had apparently come to the conclusion that he wouldn't win fairly, since he reached over and tried to mess with her controller. All the while laughingly shouting, "No! No no no no no! Stop comboing me! You're kicking my ass! This so isn't fair, your six for crying out loud!"

Marzanna was laughing to, but mockingly replied, "I'm not kicking your ass because in using combos. You just suck old man."

A yelped, "Hey!" from Dante. Then the iconic 'Finish him!' appeared on the screen, and Dante dropped his controller trying to mess with her in earnest, shouting all the while, "Oh no! Don't you dare fatality me again!"

His attempts were for not though, as a moment later Marzanna's character suddenly started shrieking, causing Dante's character to compress painfully before exploding. A second later the game announced, "Sindel Wins. Fatality."

Nero started laughing at Dante before saying to him, "Why Dante, I didn't know a six year old could kick your ass."

Dante whirled around and promptly told him, "Shut the fuck up brat. She's stupidly good at this game."

Nero just made a sarcastic, "Uh huh. Whatever you say Dante."

Dante glared before throwing the controller at him and saying, "Oh ya. Well then you try, and I'll laugh my ass off when she kicks your ass."

Nero caught the controller and sat down. As he was picking his character Kyrie shook her head at her soulmate/husband, before turning to Dante and saying in exasperation, "Really Dante, must you taunt him." When he just huffed she continued, "Also I know she's your daughter and you can raise her how you like, but really? Pizza? You couldn't make her something healthy, I know you are surprisingly decent in the kitchen. If not make something than you could've at least bought something healthy, she's a growing girl. She shouldn't be constantly eating stuff like pizza."

Dante seemed offended before he said, "This is the first time since we were left alone that I got her unhealthy food. Besides I needed to remedy a horrible act of cruelty immediately."

Nero was mostly focused on not getting his ass handed to him on a silver platter, Dante was right Marzanna was good, but he still managed to snort and ask, "Oh ya? What 'horrible cruelty' is this?"

Dante looked at him and whispered in a horrified manner, "She'd never had pizza."

Nero dropped his controller and gaped at Dante, then turned an equally horrified expression to Marzanna and whispered, "You-You've never had pizza? What kinda monster would deprive someone of pizza?!"

Marzanna gazed at him in bemusement before explaining, "In the magical world they're creatures known as house elves. They can't survive without being bonded to someone with magic. So usually in return for bonding with them along with giving them a place to live, house elves serve the person their bonded to, kinda like live in housekeeping. They get the bond, food, and a place to stay, and the person their bonded to gets someone who cooks and cleans. They do more than that, but those are their primary jobs. Of course while their treated with respect in most countries as sentient beings, prejudiced Britain usually treats them as little more than slaves. Anyway, Potter like pretty much all pure blood families had house elves bonded to his family. However while all house elves are amazing cooks, most don't know how to make stuff like pizza, so since I got my meals from them I never had it. Normally house elves wouldn't take care of someone who wasn't either a guest or member of the family their bonded to, but since Potter forced his last name on me they always took care of me. It certainly didn't hurt that they liked me more than James or Mike since I was actually nice to them and treated them with respect."

The lighthearted mood dampened a bit at the mention of yet another species the British magicals treated poorly. Kyrie shook her head before saying with forced cheer, "Well I was going to make lunch if you guys hadn't eaten yet when I got home, but since you have and since Nero's probably just going to get into the pizza I'll just make something for myself. Unless you want me to make you some food Nero?"

She said the last part like she knew the answer was already going to be 'no' and she was just being polite. Sure enough Nero grinned sheepishly at her as he picked up his controller and said, "No thanks Kyrie. Thanks anyway, but as amazing as your cooking is I haven't had pizza in a long time."

She just nodded and left. While she'd been making her food she'd been able to hear shouts from Nero, and laughing from Dante and Marzanna. He was obviously losing, especially since he kept proclaiming things like 'Rematch!' and 'I'll get you this time kid!'. She also heard quite a few 'No!'s from him, along with Dante taunting him and Marzanna laughingly teasing him about sucking. She smiled, it was good to hear Marzanna finally getting along with her father. Kyrie's heart was warmed by her family's laughter.

When she came back it was too the sight of Nero **finally** winning a match. Before he could do one of those 'Fatalities' though Marzanna abruptly exclaimed, "Oh no you don't!"

Then her character, Sindel, did a back flip right onto her head, snapping her own neck and crushing her skull as well, if the digital puddle of blood was any indication. A moment later the game announced, "Scorpion Wins. Hara-Kiri."

Nero yelled and demanded of Marzanna, "What the hell was that! I didn't do that!"

Marzanna laughed and said, "Hara-Kiri. In Mortal Kombat Deception if your opponent is about to fatality you, you can deny them by performing a suicide move, also known as Hara-Kiri."

Dante snickered at Nero's pout then rubbed it in by saying, "Even when she loses she manages to win."

Nero just glared. Then flipped him off with a sharp, "Oh fuck you Dante!"

* * *

A week later when everyone was back Kyrie was talking to Eva in the kitchen, Dante and Marzanna were in the living room playing video games again. Since the others, expect Nero who was busy making fun of every mistake Dante did in whatever game they were playing now, was in the kitchen to get away from the loud shouting, they could hear everything the two were saying. It didn't hurt that they weren't trying to be secretive, so they weren't whispering.

When Dante shouted again about something Marzanna was doing, Eva smiled vaguely then said, "I'm glad they're not awkward anymore. It's nice their finally getting along. Though I must admit, I thought that I'd come back to a war zone of awkwardness, not, well this."

Kyrie smiled before saying, "They were like this by the time Nero and I got back. I guess they just needed to be left alone to deal with their awkwardness, not have us interfering in an attempt to help."

Eva hummed and nodded, then before she could say anything Vergil butt in saying, "I just wish them getting along wasn't so... loud."

Eva smiled gently, but didn't deign to respond. Vergil maybe complaining, but they all knew he wasn't _really_ bothered by it. Not yet anyway. He was just as glad as the rest of them to hear the two laughing and having fun together. Though it **was** Vergil, so he was bound to get fed up with the volume eventually.

For now though he was just as happy as the rest of them to hear Marzanna shriek with laughter, and Nero laughingly exclaim, "Oi! Tickling your six year old competition is not only cheating, but also completely depressing that you have too, to have a chance at winning."

Dante huffed loudly and proclaimed, "It's not cheating, it's tactics! And she's ridiculously good at games so it's not depressing either!"

Vergil couldn't help himself, he called to Dante, "Tactics? Since when do you know anything about tactics Dante!"

Dante didn't miss a beat, immediately yelling insults back. Eva and Kyrie shared a smile. Their family was bigger than Eva expected it to be, and that larger than Kyrie thought it would become, but it was happy. Indeed, for now at least, life was good.


	4. Mythril, Chimera, and Strixes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Yes they may show them reloading in cutscenes like Nero reloading in his fight against Dante, but they don't reload during gameplay, so neh. Literally translated Shuraba means "the scene of bloodshed." For those of you who read my other ongoing stories, No I'm not neglecting those for this story. I just have a lot of ideas for those stories and I'm trying to figure out the best way to implement them. I'll update them as soon as I get the general way I want them to go figured out in my head. However I do have this story kinda (just a tiny bit) figured out, so you might see more updates for this story before you see new chapters for the other stories.

Dante was unsure of what to think right now. His daughter was only six, but his father was in the forge with her making her weapon. Vergil had mentioned that even if she didn't outright become a Demon Hunter, she needed to be trained in how to fight. As a Sparda, she would inevitably be targeted by demons again, so she needed to know how to defend herself. Or rather that was what he said when Dante looked ready to protest. He still wasn't happy, but Vergil had a point. Besides, if she did become a Demon Hunter he could always make her wait till she was older to start hunting. Though even if he made her wait he had the distinct feeling she'd be hunting by the time she was a teenager. That thought didn't sit well with him, but he knew Marzanna could be even more stubborn than him when she put her mind to it, so he figured be should just be glad she'd have a relatively peaceful childhood from now on. Being abused and captured by demons wasn't exactly what he'd call peaceful.

After his parents were captured and thought dead, he was put in an orphanage that happened to be run by demons. This had led to him being a Demon Hunter from a very young age. He _would_ **_not_** allow Marzanna, his baby girl, to share his fate.

However, the process of at least teaching her to defend herself started by making her a weapon. Though she had an opportunity the rest of them didn't. Dante and Vergil had inherited two of Sparda's weapons, Nero's much adored Red Queen was made by humans that knew how to forge steel in a fashion similar to how demons do it, and Trish's blades _were_ demonic steel. Marzanna on the other hand, was receiving the opportunity to have her weapon be Nephilim mythril, an alloy made from demonic steel and angelic orichalcum. Normally attempting to combine these has a rather explosive affect, but the Nephilim figured out how to do it a long time ago, and Eva had learned the secret to successfully creating mythril from a Nephilim friend 3000 years ago.

Dante knew his father would have to be extremely careful while making the mythril. Not only to prevent messing up and causing an explosion, but also because orichalcum was incredibly toxic and poisonous to demons, it could even cause horrible burns and slow a demons natural healing abilities. Angels had a similar reaction to demonic steel. This made mythril toxic to both species, only Nephilim could fully wield it, though humans could touch it without being negatively affected. However Sparda believed the advantages to forging Marzanna's blade from mythril were worth the risks, because if a Nephilim poured their demonic and angelic energies into the raw mythril while it was still fresh out of the forge it created what was known as a soul bound weapon. As its name suggested it was a weapon bound to its wielder that took shape when it had been charged with enough energy to create the bond. A soul bound weapon took the form that would best accentuate its wielders natural fighting style, making them literally perfect for their owner. Not to mention they always had three forms to start with. A 'default' form that perfectly matched their users fighting style, an angelic form which was always a light fast weapon, and a demonic form which were always heavy slow weapons. Though more forms could be gained by killing powerful demons and absorbing their energy cores. The best part was that it could even gain new angelic forms from demonic power. Technically killing powerful angels would also give her weapon new forms, but they had no qualms with the angels.

Vergil had asked if he was going to make her guns. Dante had been firm that even if her birthday was only four months away, he wasn't giving her guns till she was at least 7. Though he would be teaching her how to use them before that. Besides that would give him time to make her guns. Making a regular gun didn't take much time, but making guns like Ebony and Ivory took a bit longer. This was because they didn't fire actual bullets, instead they were designed to take a charge of either demonic or angelic energy and condense it to the point it took physical form. Nero's Blue Rose had been a regular gun at first, but after he started working with Dante it had been changed to be like Ebony and Ivory. Obviously he'd make Marzanna's guns like his and Nero's.

* * *

Marzanna was fiddling with her new weapon. The bond meant she'd instinctively know how to use it, like her Devil Bringer, but Eva said she should familiarize herself with it while the bond was still settling, besides even if she instinctively knew how to use it she would still need to train with it to truly master it. So she was familiarizing herself with it, grandpa had informed her that her blade was a double edged falcata, which from her bond she knew was named Shuraba. Dangling from the handle was a strange bracelet looking thing. She knew from the bond that it could come off, but it hadn't settled enough for her to know how, so she was trying to figure it out herself.

A few minutes later she managed to get the 'bracelet' off. Immediately it latched onto her right wrist the clasp reclosing then disappearing completely. Instinctively she pushed demonic energy into it, and a moment later the bracelet had become a wicked looking claw. It was snugly latched onto the back of her hand, and was itself designed to look like a skeletal hand. The claws themselves extended from the tips of her fingers and were heavily serrated, they were obviously made to tear flesh on their way in, but **shred** it on their way out.

Curiosity sated about the bracelet/claw, which returned to its bracelet form, she turned her attention to the actual blade. There didn't _seem_ to be anything special about her sword, but she instinctively knew this wasn't the case. A burst of demonic energy and it was suddenly a heavy battle axe. 'Arbiter' her mind whispered, vaguely she realized she'd have to become stronger before she could hope to even lift the heavy weapon, much less wield it. After examining Arbiter for a few minutes she reverted her weapon back to Shuraba. A burst of angelic energy and another mental whisper 'Osiris'. Osiris was a large but light scythe. Though light enough for her to wield, it was large enough that it'd be a bit difficult till she was taller. Difficult but not impossible.

She wondered briefly how her mother was doing. She would write her if she could, just so her mother knew she was safe, but she didn't have an owl or any other message carrying bird. She sighed as her dad walked into the room, those thoughts would have to wait, for now her training was about to begin.

* * *

Vergil was sitting in the living room reading one of Marzanna's books. Most demons and angels were capable of magic to an extent, the only reason Mundus hadn't put anti-magic seals on their cells was because they already blocked demonic powers, and unlike Marzanna's magic theirs was based off their demonic abilities. Angelic magic did have destructive spells, but they consumed a lot of energy. Energy neither Vergil nor Eva had possessed as Mundus had seals on their cells that left them with _just_ enough to survive. Certainly not enough to brake free and escape.

Still even if his magic was angelic and demonically based, it didn't stop him from learning spells from Marzanna's library. His magic may use a different energy then witches and wizards used, but it worked mostly the same. So he'd been understandably delighted when he found out Marzanna had an entire _massive_ **_library_** on magic, with at least an 8th of it being **_dark_** magic, which was his specialty. The one time Dante glanced at one of the books he'd borrowed from Marzanna, he'd shuddered and muttered something about being glad Vergil and he weren't enemies anymore. Vergil couldn't really blame him, when Dante had looked he'd been reading about a spell that ruptured internal organs.

He wasn't reading about that kind of stuff right now. Currently he was reading about familiars, if he was understating what he was reading correctly, they'd be getting some new additions to the house soon. A familiar was an animal that magically bonded itself to a witch or wizard, usually when they were young. While it wasn't **necessary** for a magical to have a familiar, due to the fact familiars enhanced and focused their bonded's magic it was recommended. Though most only had one familiar, from what the book said about other hybrid people, Marzanna would likely have two familiars as a Nephilim. Three if she had enough human blood. Most might think she was half human, but both demonic and angelic blood was very overpowering. Vergil would be surprised if she was even a 14th human.

He would've been worried about Marzanna's familiars being expensive, but in Marzanna's trunk her mother had left a pouch that was directly connected to her Gringotts vault. Her mother had told her in her journal that James didn't know of that vault, and to use it for whatever she wanted or needed. From what Vergil knew there was quite a substantial amount in there.

Vergil shook his head, and stood up. He should tell Dante about familiars, and explain why it would be best to get Marzanna her familiar(s) if he didn't figure it out on his own. He knew Dante wasn't stupid. He just wasn't as intelligent as Vergil, and was prone to being a bit dense or letting his emotions get the better of him. It also didn't help that becoming a Demon Hunter at such a young age prevented him from getting a satisfactory education. Which reminded him, Marzanna needed to be registered for school even if it was the very end of the school year they needed to get her registered before next year began.

* * *

Trish had done some digging and had managed to find the local magical shopping centers. Once she had, she did some asking around, and had located a rather large international company that dealt in magical animals. So now Marzanna, Dante, and Vergil were in one of their enormous warehouses. Marzanna was wandering around, she knew that like all magicals she'd recognize her familiar(s) when she saw it (or them if that was the case). Right now she was in the half of the warehouse the dark creatures were kept in. Since dark and light creatures usually reacted violently towards each other, the company wisely kept them separate with a wall in between.

Eventually Marzanna made her way to the back where the most dangerous creatures were kept. It was there that she saw a cage kept separate from all the rest, there was even a sheet covering most of the cage. Marzanna's curiously quickly got the better of her, and she approached the cage and pulled the sheet off. Inside was a magnificent Chimera, and she knew immediately that she'd found at least one of her familiars, if she had more than one anyway. Chimera was actually a rather loose term for a species, like dragons. There were many types, but they were all technically dragons, chimeras were the same. Though the differences in types of chimeras came from what species they were comprised of. The term Chimera was used for a feline/snake hybrid, and they always had a body of whatever feline species they were and a snake for a tail. Not a snake tail, but a snake _for_ a tail, the head of the snake was attached to the end. That was why Chimeras varied so much, because they could be a combination of so many different species. The body could be a lion, tiger, cheetah, leopard, cougar, the list went on, especially since it included all the magical versions of those animals as well. The snake tail could similarly be from any number of species.

This particular beauty seemed to be a jaguar of some sort, though she couldn't identify the snake. The poor thing had not only been locked up, but there was a ribbon over the snake's eyes and a muzzle over the jaguar's mouth, both embroidered with glowing runes. Cooing at her familiar she opened the cage and pulled both the muzzle and the ribbon off, then began petting the now happy animal. A moment later a flash of magic went off and she felt the familiar bond begin to settle.

Dante had been looking at a strange bird when a flash went off in the distance. Looking up he said, "Hmm I was beginning to think you were wrong about her having two familiars Vergil. Though that seemed to come from quite a distance away, so it's really no wonder she took so long."

The employee who was helping them shifted nervously then asked, "What species did you say you were again?"

Vergil narrowed his eyes then said, "We didn't, and you're just serving customers, our species isn't your concern. I don't see why you abruptly think it is."

The employee shifted again then quickly said, "It's just the further back you go into the warehouse the more dangerous the animals are. That looked like it was from the very back, and exceptionally dangerous animals' only bond to powerful people and species."

Vergil just huffed and said, "Well your right. We are powerful, so don't be asking stupid questions."

There was a warning in his tone, though Dante knew that unlike crazy Vergil the actual Vergil wouldn't attack him just for asking questions. He just didn't like people, and he really didn't like people who tried to butt into matters that didn't concern them. It was one of the reasons they argued, because Dante interfered with matters he had no part in so often it was practically a habit.

Still, knowing he wouldn't actually attack the guy didn't stop him from glaring, a moment later he turned away and said, "Come on. We need to go find Marzanna."

When they finally found Marzanna she was happily scratching the bottom of a jaguar's jaw, who seemed quite happy itself. Then the snake head which had previously been out of their line of sight came up making them realize it wasn't exactly a jaguar.

The employee serving them had frozen as soon as they rounded the corner and saw Marzanna, at the sight of the snake he flinched heavily and whirled towards them asking, "Just what the fuck are you people?!" At Dante's raised eyebrow he continued, still rather hysterical, "That Chimera is a Nandu/Basilisk hybrid! Do you have any idea how dangerous that-that abomination is?!"

Marzanna scowled angrily at the man before said in a low threatening tone, "I would appreciate it, sir, if you didn't insult my familiar."

She'd worded it as a request by they all knew from her tone that it was a command, vaguely Dante realized she'd been hanging around Vergil too much. Then the snake made a strange hiss and she turned to it, an even weirder responding hiss escaping her lips.

The poor employee looked ready to feint and horribly stuttering the entire time, he incredulously asked, "That was Parseltongue. She's a Parselmouth?"

Vergil just huffed, Dante had no idea what a Parselmouth was, but Vergil seemed to. Before he could ask though, Vergil coldly said, "This is a new development, but it would seem so. However you're not here to ask questions, you're here to serve us, your customers." Turning away from the frightened man Vergil softened when he looked at Marzanna and gently continued speaking, "Marzanna? Come on. You'll likely have a light aligned familiar as well, so you should get going to find it."

Marzanna frowned lightly, but reluctantly stopped loving on her new familiar, and stood. After brushing her pants off she said, "I know, I know. I'm gonna have to leave Aite with you guys. The light creatures will react violently towards her."

Dante raised an eyebrow, then said, "That's fine, but Aite? You already named her?"

She shook her head before explaining, "Nope. Aite told me that was her name."

Vergil just nodded, and Marzanna went through one of the many doors in the wall separating the dark and light animals. Dante turned to Vergil and asked, "What a Parselmouth?"

After walking through the door Marzanna immediately paused to take in her surroundings. Almost immediately her eyes feel upon what looked to be a common snowy owl. She knew this was far from the truth though. This magnificent animal was a Strix, a species that was capable of many things. Even as the familiar bond settled, what Marzanna considered most important right now though was the fact all Strixes could teleport. Marzanna grinned, it looked like she'd be able to write her mother after all, and it'd even be express delivery.

* * *

Marzanna was in the living room writing her letter to her mother. Nero was doing routine maintenance on Red Queen, and Vergil was reading another book he'd borrowed from her. While she was figuring out what to say next Kyrie came in to tidy up. However when Kyrie bent down near her to grab some dishes from the coffee table, something slipped out from under her habitual dress. Something that caught Marzanna's eye.

So she temporarily ignored her letter and asked Kyrie, "Hey what's that? Mama has one similar."

Kyrie looked up, and upon seeing that she was pointing at her feather necklace looked startled. She pushed her shock away and asked, "Your mother has something similar? You wouldn't happen to know where she got it, would you sweetie?"

Marzanna tilted her head then answered as best she could, "Mama only spoke to me about it once, it was the only time she told me about daddy, but she said she found it the night she met daddy."

Nero and Vergil had looked up at Kyrie's questions. Upon realizing what the two were talking about Nero gaped, and Vergil's eyes widened, both incredibly shocked. Nero managed to collect himself enough to ask in a mostly level tone, "Are you absolutely sure that's what she said Marzanna? Did she ever tell you where she found it, or if she found it before or after meeting Dante? It's very important."

Before she could answer Vergil, who'd completely regained his composure, snorted and said, "Why are you bothering to ask those questions. It would make perfect sense. Dante's never given any girl a second thought before, but when it comes to Marzanna's mother? You've seen the way he still pins for her, it's not usual Dante behavior. But this-this would make everything make _prefect_ sense."

"What would make perfect sense?" Marzanna turned, her daddy had walked into the room, maybe be would explain what was going on. She'd asked one question out of curiosity and now she was horribly confused.

Before she could say anything though Kyrie spoke up, quickly explaining, "Marzanna noticed Nero's feather. She asked me what it was and said her mother had something similar. To be specific she said her mother found her feather the night she met you."

Dante almost tripped over the coffee table, he gaped at them for a minute. Then promptly ignored them, instead walking over to Marzanna and sitting down. He looked at her and said, "I know your probably confused at the way everyone's acting, but that's because those feathers are important. If your mother's is what we think it is- well it's just really important and I'll explain later, ok? We think it might be one of **my** feathers from my angel wings. You saw your mom's feather a lot right?" A pause in which Marzanna nodded, "Then you should be able to recognize the feathers if I brought out my wings. So could you do me a favor and see if my feathers are the same as the one your mother has?"

Marzanna nodded. Angel wings could withdraw into their owners back, so Dante reversed the process and brought his wings out. He didn't bother taking off his shirt or coat, both had nearly invisible slits so he could pull his wings out at any time.

There was barely a second between Marzanna's nod, and Dante's wings coming out. Marzanna barely glanced at the feathers before proclaiming, "Yup! Mama's are just like that!"

The fact Marzanna recognized them so quickly said something about how often she saw her mother's necklace, but that wasn't important now. Instead Dante nodded and retracted his wings before saying, "Your writing your mom right now right? How long do you think it'll be till she replies, and do you think you'd be able to tell purely from a letter if she's under the love potion?"

Marzanna tilted her head in curiosity, but replied after a brief moment of thought, "Not too long, Mama may be in the UK, but Hedwig is a Strix, and Strixes can teleport. And telling if mama's under the amortentia? It'll be quite obvious if she is."

Dante sighed but nodded before wearily commenting, "Good, cause me and your mother need to have a chat."

* * *

Lily was in the drawing room still mourning her little Marzanna, when a beautiful snowy owl flew into the room. When James had woken her to administer the love potion she'd managed to convince him to wait. As she told him Marzanna was likely dead because of his actions, so she'd convinced him to give her time to mourn her little girl with a clear head. She didn't overly feel like reading the letter the owl brought, but it was being incredibly persistent.

When she did read it though, she was ridiculously glad she had. Tears began pooling at the corners of her eyes. Her baby was alive and safe, not only that but she'd somehow found her way into her father's care! On top of that her father was taking good care of her, and from what she gleaned from Marzanna's letter he and his family even loved her dearly. Marzanna defiantly loved her dad that was for sure. After the way James, her stepfather unwilling or not, treated her, she wouldn't call just anyone 'daddy', yet from what Lily could tell she called Dante that quite happily in her letter.

Lily made up her mind right then. She had to see her daughter at least once more, even if it would be for the last time. She **_needed_** to see her baby girl, her little Marzanna. After believing her daughter dead, she wouldn't be able to rest till she saw her baby with her own eyes.

When Lily had sent a reply with the owl, she'd expected she'd have a few days till Marzanna got back to her since she now lived in the US, and it would take a while for her owl to make the round trip between the two continents. However apparently Marzanna's bird wasn't a normal owl, because much to Lily's shock it was back in a mere half hour with Marzanna's reply. Marzanna was thrilled that her mother wasn't under the love potion, for now anyway. She seemed quite eager to see her clear headed mother, and apparently Dante needed to speak to her about something, so without further delay the two quickly made plans to meet in a few rapidly exchanged notes. Lily would have to find a way to sneak away from James, but she didn't pay that fact any mind. She had to see Marzanna, she just **had** too.

* * *

Marzanna was excited and nervous. She and her daddy were supposed to see her mama today, in less than half an hour in fact. She'd missed Lily horribly. Sure she had her aunts Trish, Kat, and Lady, her grandmother Eva, and Kyrie the wife of her pseudo big brother, but none of them were _her_ **_mama_**. Now though, now she was gonna see her mother again, and incredibly soon.

As Marzanna's thoughts kept going in circles, she vaguely noticed that her daddy seemed rather nervous. Which she thought was strange, as he's obviously already met mama before, she was born of that meeting after all.

Finally Lily appeared in the park they'd agreed upon. Marzanna happily yelled out a greeting, "Mama! You're here!"

Lily rushed over to them, but just before she reached Marzanna, Dante pulled the little girl behind him. Lily gave Dante a confused look, and in return received a scrutinizing glare. Finally Dante relaxed and let go of Marzanna, letting her all but tackle Lily in a hug. Then he said, "Sorry Lily. I know magicals are aware of demons, something I didn't tell you the last time we met is that I'm a Demon Hunter. Needed to make sure you weren't a doppelganger demon or something like it before I could let you near Marzanna."

Lily who'd looked slightly angry at first, calmed down with Dante's explanation. She couldn't fault him for protecting their daughter, as Dante had been explaining Lily had picked Marzanna up, and was cradling her to her chest. So she merely nodded to Dante, then replied to Marzanna, "Of course I'm here. You're my baby girl, I thought I'd lost you when I found out that bastard Potter had left you all alone, and in another country to boot!"

Marzanna didn't respond, instead choosing to simply burrow further into her mother's embrace. So Dante glanced around again to double check that no one was in the park with them. After confirming they were alone, Dante spoke up, "Lily. This is going to sound like an extremely strange question, but Marzanna said you found a feather in our hotel room the night we met. I need to see it please."

Lily looked startled for a moment then I light pink tinge came to her cheeks from mild embarrassment. However she ignored it, and after shifting Marzanna out of the way, pulled out the feather.

Dante barely glanced at it before he nodded, absently muttering to himself, "That's one of mine alright."

Lily tilted her head in confusion before saying, "One of yours? So it belongs to you then. Sorry, I didn't realize it belonged to you."

Dante shook his head when she went to take the necklace off, and give the feather back, then said, "No, it belongs to you now. Before I can explain that, I need to tell you some things about me."

As he'd been speaking, he guided Lily, who was still holding Marzanna, to a bench in the abandoned park. Once they'd both sat down he continued, "What do you know of angels, demons, and Nephilim?"

Lily frowned then said, "Well I'm aware of the existence of angels and demons, and I know they aren't the servants of a god or anti-god respectively, just species from other realms adjacent to ours, as you mentioned earlier most magicals are aware of them. However, I haven't the faintest idea what a 'Nephilim' is."

Dante sighed before explaining, "A Nephilim is a half Angel half Demon hybrid. I'm a Nephilim. That feather is one of my feathers from my Angel wings. More specifically, it's my mating feather. An angels mating feather only comes off after, ah," He gave a quick glance at Marzanna, obviously aware he needed to choose his words carefully, before continuing, "After they _mate_ with their soulmate. In other words, since it came if after we-"

Lily abruptly cut him off, "Wait, let me get this straight, you're a half Angel half Demon hybrid, and I'm your soulmate?" Seeing Dante nod nervously, she grinned and continued, "That's great!" Now Dante was confused, so she explained, "I became aware that Potter had been feeding me love potions the day I met you, when my pseudo brother gave me something to counter it." She blushed a bit before explaining in obvious embarrassment, "To be honest, Marzanna wasn't an accident. I never intended to run into you again, nor for you to have to raise Marzanna. I wanted to do something that was completely my decision, something that would remind James I would never really be his. In other words, I had Marzanna on purpose. That isn't to say she's only a reminder or simply a decision, I love Marzanna with all my heart. Anyway, the point was that I originally made the decision to have Marzanna, because I thought I'd be stuck with Potter for the rest of my life. The so called wedding we had is almost completely binding, I can't divorce him, nor can I just leave him."

Dante had gone through a plethora of emotions during her explanation after his confusion. First had been shock at finding out Marzanna had been conceived on purpose. Then he'd tensed at her explanation of why she'd had Marzanna, before relaxing once he confirmed she was telling the truth, she really loved Marzanna. Then he grew furious when he learned the details of her 'marriage'.

While trying to calm himself Dante bitterly commented, "Considering I know magicals have ways of altering someone's memory, I'm surprised they didn't make you forget that you were under a love potion."

Lily hummed then said, "Oh they did modify my memory. However they didn't wipe my memory, just altered it. So when I found out I was under the love potion when Marzanna destroyed Potter's stock, my memory returned. Anyway, my marriage isn't utterly binding. Which is why I brought it up in the first place."

Now Dante looked hopeful. Soulmates hated being separated from each other, even if they weren't aware they were soulmates. It was why Lily had cherished Dante's feather as a memento, and why Dante had developed the habit of reliving what little memories he had of Lily. Not that anyone had noticed Dante's new habit, since he'd already been prone to spacing off before he met Lily.

Lily just smiled at his hopeful expression. Then she continued, "See the British Ministry of Magic requires by law that all marriages and marriage contracts contain a clause that should one of the parties have a soulmate and meet that soulmate, they can terminate the marriage or contact immediately without repercussions. In other words, despite how binding my marriage to Potter is, since I've met you, my soulmate, I can divorce him immediately."

Dante grinned then said, "In that case Lily, since our daughters living with me, world you like to move in? You could live with our daughter again, and we would have a chance to properly get to know each other."

Lily smiled then replied, "I'd like that very much, Dante. As long as Marzanna did as I requested and collected my trunk from the attic, I won't need to go back to get anything, as everything else is replaceable, like clothes. Though we do need to head over to the British Ministry of Magic so I can file my divorce, and I need you to come with me, so I can prove I've met my soulmate."

Dante nodded before saying, "Of course. Though I'd like to take Marzanna back home before we go. I don't really want her anywhere near the UK, not until she's older anyway."

Lily nodded her assent, and Marzanna cut in saying, "I got your trunk mama. More importantly, just to be sure I understood you guys correctly, mama's gonna live with us, and divorce the bastard Potter?"

Dante grinned and nodded. The smile Marzanna gave the two seemed brighter than the sun to her happy parents.

* * *

Nero and the others were confused when Dante came back, only to drop off Marzanna and say he had something he needed to take care of, before quickly leaving again. Nero glanced at his father and grandparents hoping they had an answer, but they were just as bewildered as he was.

So he turned to a happily smiling Marzanna and asked, "Do you know what's going on kiddo? I thought you and your dad were supposed to be meeting up with your mom?"

Though it seemed impossible, Marzanna smile got even bigger, then she exclaimed in pure excitement, "Apparently mama is daddy's soulmate. Mama couldn't divorce the Potter bastard because of the way the marriage was set up, but wizarding law says that since mama has a soulmate and met him, that she _can_ divorce the bastard. To do that though, mama has to go to the British Ministry of Magic, and she's gotta take daddy to prove she's met her soulmate. After that's done though, Mama's gonna move in with us."

They weren't overly surprised that Marzanna's mother was Dante's soulmate, they'd suspected as much, and it was understandable that they'd want to live together since they were soulmates. They had doubts though that Lily really was Dante's soulmate though, and those doubts made them shocked that Lily was moving in.

Kyrie quickly composed herself and said with a smile, "Well, I suppose that explains why Marzanna's so happy. You must be excited Marzanna, you're going to be living with both your parents really soon. Even better, it's unlikely you'll ever see Lily's soon to be ex-husband again."

Marzanna had just nodded blissfully.


	5. Link Start!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Shhh, no complaining. If I wanna make the beta for SAO international, I can. Authoress' prerogative :). In SAO the Rapier is treated as a separate weapon skill, so I imagine there are other weapons that have their own individual skill. Also I'm setting Dante's home to be in New York, yes in the previous chapter I said they were in an empty park, but Shh! Don't nitpick. Anyway I looked it up and some sites say New York is 13 hours behind Japan, (I used Tokyo as it was easiest), others say it's 14 Hours behind. So I'm just gonna say its 13 and a half hours behind.

It had been eight years since Marzanna and her mother had moved in with her father and his family. Now Marzanna was excited. Sword Art Online was finally launching. When she'd heard that they were making the beta for it international, she'd signed up with little hope of actually being picked. However to her delight she was lucky enough to become one of the 500 beta testers from outside Japan. Originally the closed beta was supposed to be limited to Japan, but when Argus, the company who developed the NerveGear and SAO, realized the interest gamers outside Japan had in SAO, they expanded the beta to 1500. 1000 beta testers from Japan, and 500 international beta testers.

 SAO was incredible. It was beautiful, amazingly realistic, and completely awesome. She couldn't even complain about the sword fighting, as merely wildly swinging ones sword would get you nowhere, you needed actual skill and technique. Something that pleased her greatly. Having actual skill with weapons or being naturally proficient with them made a huge difference, people with such skill were immediately on another level then regular players. It upset her that this kinda unbalanced the system, but the other players could develop skills with weapons with time, so she wasn't overly worried.

 

 

Glancing at the second clock she'd bought just so she'd know what time it was in Japan without having to waste time figuring out the time difference, she saw it that it was 12:55 November 6th in Japan, five minutes till SAO launched. Though it was 11:25 pm November 5th for her, since New York was 13 and a half hours behind. She wouldn't be able to play long since it was almost midnight, but she couldn't wait till tomorrow to play. She'd get no sleep whatsoever if she tried to.

When her secondary clock said it was 12:58 she put her NerveGear on and laid down. The second the clock inside the NerveGear, which was also set to JST (Japan Standard Time), clicked over to 13:00 she immediately closed her eyes and said, "Link start."

Instantly the startup sequence began, it checked over her sensory connections, then automatically selected 'Japanese' in language select, since it was the only language to choose from. When she'd been accepted into the beta test, she'd immediately been grateful to her Uncle Vergil and mother for insisting on teaching her some languages when she was younger. She wasn't prefect at it, but practice born from a month of taking to mostly Japanese players in the beta assured that she didn't speak in broken sentences.

Once she'd finished logging in, the now familiar 'Welcome to Sword Art Online!' appeared before her, then a rush of color and suddenly she was standing in the main plaza of the Town of Beginnings. Grinning widely she looked around to familiarize herself, vaguely she heard another player murmur, 'I'm finally back', but ignored the obvious beta tester. She was more interested in running off to utilize what little time she had today to make as much progress with her character as possible.

Heading in the direction of a good shop she knew of she started going through a mental list of things to do, 'First things first, I need to sell the standard «One-Handed Strait Sword» all players start with and buy a «One-Handed Curved Sword» so I can train it up and unlock the «Falcata» skill. Not to mention even if SAO's «Claw» weapons have the claws extending from the knuckles instead of the fingers like I'm used to, I'll need to get a «Claw» for my off hand eventually, but the ones in the starting city just aren't worth the Col. I'll just wait till I get a monster drop. You start out with two healing potions, but I'd like to have a bit more than that if I can afford it. It depends on if they updated the starting shops, and what sword I buy. The starting armor will do for now.'

Arriving in what had been the best shop in the beta, she found that the shops had been updated a bit, but she could afford a decent sword and four healing potions. After checking to make sure she didn't need anything else she confirmed her purchase. Now done with her shopping she took off for the best grinding spot for level 1 players.

An hour and a half later she finished clearing the hunting grounds one more time before sighing, she had to log off now. Between shopping and grinding she'd spent a little over two and a half hours online. The time display in the bottom right read 15:57, which meant it was roughly 2:27 am in her own time zone. Opening her menu she soon found out that the 'log out' button was missing. Marzanna, currently under her player name Hanna, a joke to herself, stared at the menu with only one thought running through her head, 'Fuck.'

* * *

Despite the fact it was almost midnight, Dante was still awake. Even though as a Nephilim they didn't even need six hours of sleep a night, Dante had agreed to let Marzanna stay up and play her new game 'Sword Art Online' as long as she was logged off and asleep by 3 am. He wanted her to get six hours of sleep before the two of them went to investigate some reports of demonic activity at 10 the next morning.

Normally he wouldn't spend as much as the combined cost of the virtual reality device, NerveGear and the game SAO, for something as simple as video games, but he hadn't been the one to buy it. Marzanna had saved up to buy it herself. When they were hired to hunt demons the person who went to hunt the demon didn't actually get to keep all the money themselves. They got to keep a portion of it and the rest went to the house for necessities like food and toiletries, along with an emergency stash and funds to repair the house whenever demons attacked them at home. Since Kyrie and Lily didn't go on hunts they got something akin to paychecks every week, since even if they didn't like fighting they did other stuff, like cooking and cleaning. They could go demon hunting, with a little training, if they wanted to. If two people who belonged to separate species that had different natural life spans were soulmates, the person from the species with the shorter life span would become a half breed of their mates species upon bonding. In other words, when Kyrie and Lily underwent the soulmate bound with Nero and Dante respectively, they both became half Nephilim. Ergo with a little training they _could_ hunt demons if they wanted to, but Kyrie didn't like fighting and Lily had gotten sick of fighting during the war with Voldemort.

Marzanna had started hunting two years ago, though she still wasn't allowed to go on hunts by herself. Usually if it was Marzanna's job, one of them would volunteer to go fully knowing they would getting a smaller cut of the payment than usual. On the other hand if Marzanna tagged along on someone else's hunt, she was the one who got a smaller portion. Marzanna hadn't been tagging along on other people's missions in a while though, choosing to take her own. That was because she had been saving up for the NerveGear, and later SAO.

Abruptly Dante was jerked from his thoughts as the TV, which he'd been watching before he spaced out in thought, suddenly stopped the show it'd been playing, and switched to an emergency news report. As the news immediately started off by warning people not to forcibly remove NerveGear from anyone playing SAO, Dante froze in horror. As the news reporter continued by saying that over 150 people in Japan, and an additional 50 people worldwide, had already done so, resulting in the death of the player, that it wasn't a joke and the threat was completely real, Dante felt like he would throw up. They continued by reporting that Akihiko Kayaba had turned the innocent game into a death game, wherein if the player died in the game the NerveGear would fry their brain. After that they urged watchers not to touch the NerveGear, especially not for forcibly remove it, and to call a certain number if someone they knew was playing SAO, or it they suspected they were playing SAO.

On and on it went, but Dante couldn't really focus anymore. The information swirled in his head, and when it finally sunk in Dante began shaking his head in denial. Roughly grabbing his phone from the coffee table, he went on the internet, and to a news site he and his family trusted. The story was confirmed quickly, since it was all over **_every_** site that even remotely dealt in news.

Dante stared wide eyed at his phone for a moment, then immediately woke the entire house with a horrified yell, almost a scream, "Marzanna!"

* * *

Marzanna had tried calling a GM every half hour, nobody answered. In between those unsuccessful calls, she'd been carefully leveling. She had a horrible feeling she needed to become as strong as possible, as quickly as possible, and she felt strangely on edge, in a manner that she'd only experienced during the first few Demon Hunts she'd gone on.

She'd discovered her missing log out button, a little over an hour ago as it was now 5:10 pm. She was now making her way back to the starting city, as a low level character she couldn't carry that many items, and being on edge had caused her to grind like crazy. So she was now incredibly close to her weight limit. About halfway between the grinding spot she'd been using and the Town of Beginnings she saw two male players relaxing on a hill.

Considering no GMs had been answering her calls she was fairly certain of the answer already, but she decided to ask the two if their logout buttons were available, or if it was just her glitching. So she called out to them, "Ah excuse me? Can I ask you something?"

The two males turned to her and the redhead immediately jumped up saying while blushing, "Of course! I'd be more than happy to help you in any way you require!"

She saw the black haired boy shake his head, and heard him mutter, "First my sister now some stranger we just met."

Vaguely she realized that she recognized his voice, it was the same beta tester she'd heard muttering about being back when she first logged in. She shook it off though, and explained her problem, "Well you see, my logout button seems to be missing, and the GMs aren't answering. I was just wondering if it's just me glitching, or if the problem is plaguing the entire system. So basically, are your logout buttons showing, because mine isn't."

The redhead frowned heavily and opened his screen, the black haired male stared at her in shock for a moment then quickly asked, "Are you sure you didn't just overlook it? If not that's a **_huge_** glitch to have on the first day the game launches."

Marzanna, or rather as her avatar name proclaimed her, Hanna(1) shook her head then explained rapidly, "No. I was in the beta test, I know where the logout button is, and the game designers didn't have any reason to move it."

His eyes widened, but before he could reply, the redhead interrupted, "Umm... Kirito, I can't find it either."

The black haired male, now identified as Kirito, turned to him then said, "It should be the bottom button on the main screen Klein."

The redhead, Klein, shook his head, then said, "Dude it's not there. See look, I'll make my window viewable to you."

Putting actions to words, Klein pushed the option to make his player window viewable, then tilted his screen towards Kirito. Kirito leaned over saying, "See it should be-"

Kirito had begun to point to where the logout button should be, but had frozen upon seeing it missing. A moment later he jerked back, and immediately called his own window out. Neither she nor Klein needed to see his window to be able to tell his logout option was missing as well. The way he froze again was telling enough.

Sharing a worried glance with Klein, Hanna spoke up again, "I though as much. I figured it wasn't just me since the GMs weren't answering. If it's a system wide glitch, their probably swamped with calls from distressed players."

Klein nodded absently before saying, "No logout button. Man that's a serious glitch to have the first day you launch your game. Hey Kirito? Is there any other way to logout?"

Hanna immediately shook her head, but Kirito actually gave it a moment of thought. Then a moment later he agreed with her, saying, "No the only ways to logout are with the option on your main menus window or being forcibly logged out by the GMs. The GMs will probably log every player out in a bit, so I suppose all we can do is wait."

Klein glanced down and to the right before exclaiming, "But! I ordered that pizza remember? It's supposed to arrive at 5:30, and it's already 5:16!"

Kirito glanced at Klein and sighed before saying, "Ya and I've got homework I need to get started on. Don't misunderstand I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just saying, we've all got our reasons why we need to get back soon, but it won't change when we get logged out. We have no choice but to wait for the GMs."

Klein looked put out art Kirito's word's, but glanced at her and asked, "What about you? You discovered it before we did, so obviously you were trying to logout. Why do you need to logout?"

Hanna titled her head before saying, "Well, in not actually from Japan, when I said I was in the beta I meant I was one of the 500 chosen for the international side of the 1500 beta testers. I'm actually from America, I stayed up just to play a couple hours before I had to go to bed. Let's see it's now roughly... 3:46 am where I live. My dad said I could stay up to play, but only if I was logged out and asleep by 3 am. He's not overly strict, so he'd probably be understanding of the fact the systems glitching, but still..."

They both looked startled when she told them she was from America, and Kirito opened his mouth to reply, but whatever he was about to say was cut off as a loud bell began ringing, a moment later all the of them were subjected to a forced teleport.

* * *

Dante was holding onto his sobbing wife, rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her, he knew it wouldn't help in the slightest.

It had been four hours since he saw the news report, and went running to check on Marzanna, praying that something had interfered with her plans to login to SAO for a few hours. Hoping she'd fallen asleep before the server launched, or something, anything, else that would mean she was safe, and not in that death game.

When he'd reached her room he hadn't even bothered to knock, almost taking the door of its hinges in his haste. When he saw that she really had stayed up and logged on. He just stood there, unsure what to do, and feeling like he was seconds away from passing out. By then almost everyone else had rushed out of their rooms, clearly thinking they were under attack by demons yet again. They'd been utterly confused to find Dante just frozen in the hallway, starting into Marzanna's room, no trace of any demons other than themselves around.

Vergil, Trish, and Lady had started chewing Dante out for waking everyone, but to their further confusion, he didn't even seem to hear them. It was then Nero spotted Dante's phone, clutched in the man's hand so hard it was beginning to break, and opened to the news site the family used most of the time. He'd carefully pulled the phone from Dante's hand, and looked at it. He only needed to see the headline, and glance into Marzanna's room to understand **exactly** what was going on.

The others had stopped yelling when they saw Nero pull Dante's phone from his hand, and Vergil had put a hand on Nero's shoulder inn concern when he'd yanked his head up, looking into Marzanna's room with horror clearly on his face. When he was ignored, Vergil mimicked Nero's earlier actions with Dante, and pulled the phone from Nero's hand. It hadn't taken long after that for the news to spread through the house.

Now they were all sitting in the living room, Lily crying into Dante's chest. None of them could sleep. Not with the knowledge of what had happened, _was_ **_happening_** , to Marzanna, she was in incredible danger, and there wasn't a _damn_ thing any of them could **do**.

* * *

Hanna was standing in the plaza staring wide eyed at the ceiling, where Kayaba Akihiko had just finished explaining the new rules of this death game. Hanna had always been taught to prepare for the worse and hope for the best. So with that her mind began racing, 'As a Nephilim I can survive a lot that humans can't, I can even survive having small portions of my brain destroyed by say a gun, and it'll regenerate without adverse side effects, but an electromagnetic pulse. I'm...unsure what that'll do to me, considering my Nephilim physiology.' Shaking her head she corrected her own thoughts, 'No. Even a Nephilim can't survive if their brain is completely destroyed. I **_have_** to assume it'll kill me, just like it'd kill a human.'

As though Kayaba could hear the people who had begun shouting in disbelief he added something else, "Then I will show you evidence that this is the only reality. In your inventories there will be a gift from me. Please confirm this.(3)"

Opening up her inventory, she and every other player saw a new item in their respective inventories. It was simply labeled «Hand Mirror». Materializing it with the 'make into object' option, Hanna caught the simple reflective rectangle that appeared. Thousands of chimes echoed around the plaza as every player pulled their own hand mirrors out.

At first nothing happened, all the mirror did was show the reflection of her avatar, then suddenly she was engulfed in a bright white light. When it cleared she saw similar lights either engulfing or dissipating around the other players. Looking into the hand mirror, Hanna gaped in shock. For reflected back at her, was her own face, her _real_ face, not her avatars. Glancing over to where Klein and Kirito had been, she found the space still occupied by a redhead and a boy with black hair, but they were _very_ different than the two that had been standing there previously. Considering her own change, she assumed this was what they looked like in real life.

Klein and Kirito seemed confused, and at first didn't recognize each other or her, then they glanced into their mirrors and realized what happened.

Comically pointing at each other the two yelled simultaneously, "You're Klein!", "Wait, **You're** Kirito?!"

Then the two turned towards her and Klein said, "Wait, that means... Hanna?! You're-You're! You're even more gorgeous in real life?!"

She abruptly felt like face planting, and from his expression it seemed the feeling was shared by Kirito, who after a moment covered his face with one hand and muttered, "So not the time Klein."

She agreed, but if they were evaluating each other's looks, she had to say, Klein had a rugged roguish look, while Kirito looked even cuter than his avatar. Shaking herself from those thoughts as like Kirito said, it so wasn't the time, she turned back to Kayaba, since he hadn't disappeared she assumed he had something else to say. In the background she could hear Kirito and Klein talking about how he got the information if how every player looked, but ignored them for now. The how didn't matter to her.

She wasn't disappointed, he did have more to say, but his explanation of why, of simply wanting 'to create, watch, and intervene, in this world(4)' just pissed her off. Clutching her teeth she furiously thought, 'So he did all this, kidnapped 10,000 people, killed 213 people already and who knows how many will die in the future, just so he could _play_ **_God_**?!'

Even as the players began shouting denials or just yelling angrily, she turned to grab Kirito's hand and lead him and Klein away. To her surprise Kirito had already grabbed Klein's arm and was reaching for hers, they shared a quick glance upon realizing they had similar intentions. Then with Kirito dragging Klein they ran off.

They didn't make it far before Klein came to his senses and pulled back said, "W-Wait a minute, where are we going?"

Hanna shared a glance with Kirito, then she began explaining to Klein, "It's safer to assume we won't be getting any help from the outside world, rather than waste precious time we could be leveling up waiting to be rescued."

Kirito nodded and Klein looked at his feet before slowly shaking his head, then he said, "I can't just leave. Like I told you earlier Kirito, I've got friends in here. I can't just leave them."

Kirito glanced quickly at her, it was obvious he was thinking of the odds, if it had just been Kirito he _might_ have been able to bring along Klein and one other person while simultaneously keeping them safe, with another beta tester, Hanna, coming along that number increased to 3 or 4 players they could bring along and still keep them safe. The problem with that though, was the fact bringing 4 people who've **never** played a VRMMO would slow them considerably.

Before either of them could reach a decision, Klein abruptly shook his head wildly then exclaimed, "What am I saying, I might've never played a virtual reality game before, but I've played MMOs. I've got at least ten friends back there, asking you to keep ten other people along with me and yourselves safe is just unreasonable."

Hanna started to protest, but Klein shook his head again and cut her off, "No. Don't worry about me, Kirito showed me how to fight earlier, I'll teach it to my friends, with that we should be able to protect ourselves."

Hanna frowned then said, "Are-Are you sure you'll be ok Klein? I can't speak for Kirito, but if you really need me to I can stay behind and help?"

Klein smiled while replying, "No it's ok, but before we part I wanna thank you two."

Both gave him looks of confusion, and Hanna said, "But I haven't done anything for you to thank me for."

Klein shook his head a third time before explaining, "You have though, when those people back in the plaza come to their senses, how many of them do you think will give a damn about anyone except themselves and their friends huh? You only met me an hour ago tops Hanna, yet your worried about me and my friends, and offered to stay behind just now even though we'd undoubtedly slow you down. So don't think you haven't done anything Hanna, because you've done a lot for me already. Not to mention, like I said earlier Kirito showed me how to fight, and you were both willing to take me with you, and protect me till I could protect myself. So thank you both, for everything you've done for me."

Hanna murmured, "Klein..." Then shook her head and brought out her menu and began manipulating it, a moment later a friend request popped up in front of Klein, Hanna have him a stern look while saying, "Kayaba said that our accounts would be erased if we died, so theoretically if you're on someone's friends list you should disappear from that list upon death. I won't take no for an answer, because this way I can be sure you're ok." Softening a bit she added, "And you can message me quicker if I'm on your friends list. So don't hesitate to message me if you need help. Or even if you just wanna talk."

Klein got a bit teary, but nodded firmly, accepted the request, and said, "You too. You don't hesitate to message me either, ok?"

Hanna nodded with a smile, and a moment later another friend request appeared in front of Klein, this time from Kirito. The only explanation Kirito gave was a simple, "What Hanna said."

Klein nodded again while accepting Kirito's friend request, but as he opened his mouth to bid the two farewell, Kirito interrupted, "Klein. I won't say goodbye, because that implies a permanent farewell. So I'll just say, see you later, ok?"

Klein nodded, and quietly said, "Ya, see you two later, Kirito, Hanna."

Hanna smiled then responded equally quite, "See you later Klein."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: I think it's rather obvious, but this is my way of saying that I'll be referring to Marzanna by her username 'Hanna' for the duration of SAO from now on.
> 
> 2: Direct quote from 'Sword Art Online Volume 1'light novel. Not mine, don't claim its mine, so don't sue.
> 
> 3: In the light novel he says to 'create and watch this world', but in the anime he says 'create and intervene' I liked both so I just combined them.


	6. In Which There's A Lot Of Talking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is crappy. When I stated posting this over fanfiction some crap happened between last chapter and this one. So this chapter was me trying to remind myself where I was and get back into my rhythm.

It had been a little over two hours since Kirito and Hanna had left the starting city. Kirito had sent her a request to join his party on their way out of the city, and they had been grinding on their way to the next city since. While they wanted to make it to Horunka -the next city- soon, it wasn't their priority. Leveling up and becoming stronger was. Currently they were taking a break while they waited for the mobs to respawn. It was quiet till Kirito, who had been looking thoughtful for almost their entire break, spoke up.

 "Hey Hanna?" Once he assured he had her attention he continued, "So listen. There's this quest in Horunka called 'Secret Medicine of the Forest'. The reward for it is a one-handed straight sword called the «Anneal Blade». It's the best one-handed straight sword until the third floor plus it's possible to enhance it eight times, but because of that the quest is also incredibly dangerous. However, I'm going to go attempt the quest. Considering the danger, I'll understand completely if you don't wanna come along."

Hanna blinked for a minute then smiled and replied, "No, I'll go. If we're going to be partying together **_both_** of us need to get stronger. That means we need to level up _and_ get better equipment."

Kirito looked hesitant for a minute before speaking, "You sure? I agree with the both getting stronger thing but... You use a curved sword not a straight sword. The «Anneal Blade» wouldn't be suitable for you. So it's not like we can just both do the quest and get better weapons."

Hanna nodded before replying, "I'm sure. We should get going for the quest."

Kirito smiled and nodded before saying, "While we're on our way there I'll message my friend Argo -she's an information broker- and ask her if she knows any quests that give you a good curved sword. If she does depending on how long the quest for the «Anneal Blade» takes we'll go get you a nice curved sword either tomorrow or the day after. With the way we're grinding, I don't think we'll even be able to get the «Anneal Blade» today."

Hanna tilted her head and hummed as they started walking, then said, "Could you ask her about «Claws» too? I prefer to fight with a claw and falcata, but the claws in the shops on the first five floors just aren't worth the Col."

Kirito nodded, but tilted his head and asked, "What's a falcata? I've never heard of it."

Hanna glanced at him then said, "It's probably because you prefer straight swords. A falcata is a curved sword. The skill for it doesn't unlock till you've gotten the curved sword skill up to level 20."

* * *

Kirito nodded at Hanna's explanation. He was thankful for the fact he'd chosen to use the account he made for the beta rather than create a new one, and that Argo had been planning on doing the same. The beta testers didn't get any benefits for using their beta accounts, the only thing they got to keep were their screen names, avatars -which was no longer the case anyway-, and their friend list. Though since they also didn't get any benefits from starting a new account most of the beta testers he knew had been planning on using their original account. Even if they had no other reason than having an easier time getting back in touch with friends and acquaintances they made in the beta.

Shaking off the wayward thought, Kirito went into his friends list, found Argo, and messaged her. She took a few minutes to respond and when she did, rather than an answer to his enquiry he received a panicked message asking him a bunch of questions. Whether he was ok, where he was, and why the hell he needed that information amongst other things. Kirito blinked for a minute in confusion before realizing that it had only been a few hours since Kayaba Akihiko's 'tutorial'. It occurred to him then, that not many people would be able to recover from that information and immediately focus on what they needed to do like Hanna and himself, and that it was probably pure chaos in the starting city. With that thought he messaged her back reassuring her that he was fine and quickly answering her other questions. He also predicted the questions he'd get about why he'd left the safety of the starting city in return if he left it at that. So he also explained that he and Hanna both believed that it was better to prepare for the worst and assume they'd get no help from the outside, than waste precious time they could use for grinding and getting stronger, lingering in the starting city waiting for a rescue that wasn't likely to come.

The response took almost 15 minutes to arrive. From what he could tell it seemed the reason she took so long was because Argo had forced herself to calm down, think about the situation, and arrive at a similar conclusion as himself and Hanna.

Turning to Hanna, Kirito told her what the message said, "So Argo says she knows of two quests that gave a great curved sword and a decent claw. She said she would sell the info for the claw quest for 500 col, and offered to trade the info for the curved sword in exchange for picking up two claws from the claw quest for her."

Hanna tilted her head and asked, "Why does she want two? Claws are pretty much the weakest weapon class in the game, but in exchange for that they have ridiculously high durability. Well, they've also got buffs on them, but not until floor three. All the claws before floor three are just regular claws. With the durability claws are known for, it doesn't seem necessary to have a backup this early in the game."

Kirito contemplated the information on claws having buffs for a moment, but shook his head before replying, "She doesn't want it as a backup. The system doesn't allow duel wielding, _except_ for when it comes to claws. Due to their low damage and incredibly short range, the system allows people to duel wield claws. Argo fights with two claws, hence why she wants two."

Hanna nodded in acceptance then said, "We need to get to Horunka to sell the mob drops we don't want anyway, but I'd like to take our time so we can grind a bit more. Without the claws she'll probably avoid combat and rush to wherever she's going, so ask her if she's willing to meet us in Horunka."

Kirito nodded then messaged Argo the request. A minute later she replied, agreeing to head to Horunka and meet up.

* * *

An hour later they were walking into the inn they'd agreed to meet Argo in. They'd already sold the drops they didn't want at one of the shops and stopped to pick up the quest for the Anneal Blade so they just needed to talk to Argo. As expected she was already waiting for them when they arrived so they made their way over to her. Argo obviously deep in thought and didn't notice them till they sat down.

Jerking at their in her view sudden appearance, Argo took a moment to regain he composer before speaking, "Kii-bou, it's good to see you're alright." at Kirito's raised eyebrow she huffed then added, "What? I was just told a couple hours ago that there is a high possibility that I'll die simply because I enjoy video games and some madman wants to play God. So excuse me for being a bit out of sorts and being concerned for one of the few people I genuinely consider a friend."

Kirito barely stopped his jaw from dropping. He realized Argo had a point, but it was still incredibly shocking to have her be so open and honest. A minute later his face softened slightly when her last sentence managed to truly sink in. Then he gently said, "I'm fine Argo and I'm glad to see you're ok too. I'll probably never admit it again since you'll find some way to use it against me, but for the record I consider you my friend as well."

Argo blinked rapidly for a moment before smiling gently. It was far smaller than the usually grins she plastered on her face, but by far more genuine. Then again it wasn't often that Kii-bou admitted that he enjoyed her company, and he'd _never_ called her his friend before, so it was to be expected. Shaking off the thought she turned to Hanna and got down to business, "So, the info you wanted, like I told Kii-bou, I'll sell the claw info for 500 and trade the info for the curved sword for two claws."

Hanna nodded her head, then opened a trade window and gave Argo 500 col, before looking at her expectantly. Argo double checked to make sure she had received the correct amount, then told Hanna the info, "Alright, so the quest is east of Horunka. If you follow the stream that leads that way out of town you'll eventually come across a small farm with wilting crops. The NPC you receive the quest from will be sitting on the porch steps of his house, looking depressed. If you ask him what's wrong he'll tell you that his crops have been infested with a strange bug that eats the roots of whatever he plants. He'll continue by saying that he's tried everything he could think of to get the bugs to leave, but nothing works. At that point if you ask if there's anything you could do to help he'll ask you to head north and talk to an old woman who used to own a farm with her late husband. Don't worry about finding the woman's house you just need to follow the waypoint on your map to find it. He'll also say something about being unable to go himself because the forest is dangerous, this is a warning. Halfway to the woman's house you'll get attacked by a group of four Dire Wolves and the slightly stronger Alpha Dire Wolf. Since it's only claws that's really all there is to the quest. Once you get to the woman's house just tell her about the bugs and ask if she knows how to get rid of them. She'll tell you that all the farmer needs to do is add some moon flower oil to his fertilizer and the bugs will leave, but you can't just tell the farmer that. If you try he'll criticize you for trying to give advice on a subject you know nothing about. Anyway once you've seen the woman he'll accept the advice and give you two claws and 100 col. The quest can be done by two people at the same time as long as they aren't in the same party, so if you guys wanna save time you'll have to temporarily disband your party. I'm warning you now though, if you do it that way, then when you reach the halfway point instead of four Dire Wolves and one Alpha it'll double and be eight and two Alphas. Although the distance between the houses isn't that far, maybe a 30 minutes and that's if you're walking. So personally I'd just make two trips, since there isn't a cool down time on the quest."

Hanna thought about it a moment before turning to Kirito and asking, "What do you think Kirito? One trip or two? On one hand two trips will take longer, but on the other one trip is more dangerous. After all Dire Wolves on their own or in two's and three's may not be that dangerous, but the buffs they get in bigger packs or with an Alpha can make them deadly. And with eight wolves and two Alphas..." Hanna trailed off before shaking her head to clear it and continuing, "Although with how much grinding we did I'm confident we could beat them if you wanted to go that route."

Kirito tilted his head in thought before sighing and answering, "I think we should just make one trip. We can handle it. Plus since getting the quest item for the «Anneal Blade» will take a while I think we should wait till tomorrow, since it's a little after 9 PM, go and get the claws first then head over to get my sword. After we trade Argo's claws for your sword info and if there's enough time go and get that. Sound good?"

Hanna nodded and a comfortable silence settled over the three as they ordered some food and ate. Halfway through the meal though, Argo shifted before asking Hanna, "So in Kirito's message, he mentioned that you're a beta tester. Just out of curiosity how do you not know the info about first floor claws and curved swords already? Did you not start fighting with them till later levels in the beta?"

Hanna swallowed her food before responding, "No actually. My family has... strange traditions, I suppose you could say. You know how some families in Japan have their kids learn Kendo?"

Out of the corner of her eye Hanna saw Kirito jerk slightly at that. She briefly wondered if his family was like that, but brushed it off when Argo frowned before saying, "Ya, but what do you mean 'in Japan' aren't you from Japan?'

Hanna shook her head before saying, "No. I was in the international beta, I live in America. Anyway, my family has a... tradition that we learn how to use swords, kinda like those families I mentioned. Except unlike those families we don't learn how to use a shinai, my family learns how to use actual weapons. When I started playing SAO it immediately became obvious that the rare players who had experience, usually with kendo, and the players with natural talent for weapons where off the bat better at the game. Of course the more other people played the better they got and the gap in skill level lessened, but it was still there. So rather than focusing on my equipment I initially just worked on getting the falcata skill unlocked, as that was what I chose to learn IRL. After I had my falcata I almost exclusively focused on improving my skill with a falcata. I did of course upgrade my gear, but not often. I chose to use a claw with my falcata because I also learned how to use something similar when I was learning how to use my falcata. Really the only difference between the claw I learned how to use in real life and the in game claw is that the ones in the game have three claws extending from between my knuckles and the one I learned with in real life had one extending from the tip of each of my fingers."

Argo was staring in shock, but Kirito looked thoughtful before saying, "You know my grandfather forced me and my sister to learn kendo, and now that I think about it I did have a much easier time then almost all the other beta testers when the beta started. I didn't even notice."

Hanna nodded but before she could say anything Argo shook off her shock and spoke, "You know kendo Kirito?" Kirito nodded, then Argo continued, "I always wondered how you were so much better at SAO than anyone else."

Kirito grinned and Argo shook her head before turning to her and continuing, "I apparently am the only one at this table with no training, and I'm fairly certain I'm not naturally talented if the way I struggled at the beginning of the beta is any indication. And I can't really party with you guys since my being an information dealer means I usually have a busy schedule running all over the place. So do you have any tips on how I could get better on my own?"

Hanna grinned before saying in a teasing tone, "Now Argo, surely an info broker like yourself knows you don't get anything for free?" Argo looked incredulous and out of the corner of her eye she could see Kirito trying not to laugh. Just as Argo was about to start whining, Hanna laughed before smiling and saying, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I couldn't help myself." Argo poured and Kirito was now hiding his face in his arms which were folded on the table his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. Shaking her head at Kirito even though he couldn't see it, Hanna turned to Argo and started talking again, "Well my advice would be that once you have your claws put some time aside every day, and practice. Start with the claw skills from the system. Focus on one skill and use it over and over, once you've memorized the movements start trying to do the skill without the systems help. You'll probably be awkward and slow at first, but don't get frustrated or disheartened, just keep practicing. Once you can comfortably do the skill on your own reasonably fast, start on the next skill. Keep doing that until you've got a good portion of them learned, then begin practicing starting a skill and partway through switching to a different skill."

Argo, who had been intently listening till then, abruptly interrupted her, "You mean like if the first skill has say and upward slash hallway through and the second skill starts with a downward slash, to start the second skill instead of finishing the first right?" Hanna nodded, and Argo continued, "I figured, I just wanted to be sure though. Considering what that bastard Kayaba has done to SAO the better I am, the more likely I am to survive. I don't wanna waste a bunch of time learning something useless because I misunderstood you."

Hanna hummed in agreement before continuing, "Anyway just keep practicing switching between skills and once you're comfortable enough with it go back to the starting city and practice fighting without using any system skills on them till you're comfortable fighting without using any skills. After that just move on to an area with _slightly_ tougher mobs, wash, rinse, and repeat. Before you know it you'll be fighting high level monsters without using a single sword skill. Oh and little nugget of information for you? The mobs are programmed to know when the player activates any skill in the game, and attempt to either block of evade. The only reason it isn't usually successful is because the game designers realized that the skill system would be heavily relied on. So to make it fair all the mobs much lower agility compared to the rest of their stats. You know how «Switching» with another player causes the mob to freeze for a couple seconds because it confuses the learning algorithm?" Argo and Kirito both nodded so she continued, "Well if you start one skill then abruptly switch to a different one? Confuses the hell out of them. See the programmers apparently realized that players might learn to mimic skills on their own, so the AI for the mobs is not only programmed to know when you activate a skill but they're also programmed to recognize when you mimic a skill. So if you wait till you've almost finished a skill, say hit 8 out of a ten hit skill since the algorithm will defiantly have recognized the skill by then, and **_then_** switch? Their programming has no fucking clue what to do. I've seen mobs freeze upward to 20 seconds while their programming figures out if it should be responding to a skill it knows or using the learning algorithm to try and predict your attacks."

Now Kirito and Argo were gaping at her. Then Kirito incredulously blurted, " **20 Seconds?!** At most switching will buy you 5, and your telling me there's a way to get them to freeze for 20 on your own?!" Hanna nodded in amusement at his antics and Kirito leaned back before muttering, "Damn. I'm defiantly going to learn how to do my skills manually just so I can switch between them. With the new rules to this death game 20 seconds could easily save my or someone else's life."

Hanna nodded in agreement. Then after glancing down at the clock said, "Well as nice of company you two make I think I'm gonna check into the inn and get some sleep. We should try to start as early as possible tomorrow Kirito so I'd suggest you do the same, but that's up to you of course."

Kirito and Argo both glanced down and to the right obviously checking their own clocks before Kirito nodded and stood while saying, "Ya that seems like a good idea. Goodnight Argo."

Argo looked back up at them, "I'm gonna stay up a bit longer, but goodnight Kii-bou, Hanna-chan."

Hanna nodded, "Night Argo."

Kirito and her both walked up to the counter and checked in, as they were walking up the stairs Hanna glanced at Kirito before saying, "Hey Kirito?" seeing she had his attention she continued, "Why were you laughing so hard when I teased Argo about paying me for the information on how to get better with her claws? It really wasn't that funny."

Kirito grinned and said, "Well see while I've seen Argo buy info off plenty of people it's always Argo who teases when someone ask her something. I've never seen anyone turn the tables on her, actually I don't think she's had someone get her with her own game _ever_ if the look on her face was any indication. That was also funny, her expression."

Kirito laughed lightly undoubtedly remembering Argo's expression, and Hanna smiled. Now standing in front of her door she turned to him still smiling, "Goodnight Kirito."

He smiled back, "Night Hanna."

Going in and closing the door behind her she started unequipping her armor for bed. As she did an absent thought crossed her mind, _'He's pretty cute when he smiles. I could really get used to it.'_

She was already asleep when the message, 'You have been disconnected. Attempting to reconnect.' inserted itself into her vision.

* * *

Dante was laying on Marzanna's bed staring off in thought. Lily had eventually cried herself to sleep in his arms. So he'd put her in their bed before hiding himself in Marzanna's room. Dante sighed when Vergil came in and leaned against Marzanna's desk. For a while nothing was said, but Dante eventually lost his patience, which wasn't a surprise, Vergil was always the more patient of the two. Growing in irritation Dante snapped at Vergil, "I came in here because I wanted to be alone. Go away."

Vergil shook his head before answering, "I knew that already. The question is **_why_** you want to be alone. I'm the one who wants to be left alone in situations like these, not you. You've always been about family. You're comforted by their presence when you're upset and are always right there for them when they themselves are distressed. Our family is definitely distressed right now, yet you're up here, in Marzanna's room, all alone instead of down there with them. What's wrong Dante? And I know it isn't just Marzanna, you'd be downstairs if it were."

Dante was silent for a while. He didn't even contemplate trying to lie to Vergil. They were twins. For Demons and Angels that created a mental link. In Vergil and his case this led to being able to sense the others emotions and tell if they were lying. They could block the others ability to sense their emotions, which Dante was doing at that very moment, but it was impossible to lie to each other. Dante contemplated whether he should tell Vergil what was bothering him. He knew Vergil would understand, wouldn't judge him, but he was ashamed of his thoughts. Which was why he was hiding from the rest of their family.

Sighing again as he sat up Dante was silent for another minute before whispering so quietly that Vergil had to strain his Nephilim senses to hear. "I... I wanna fucking kill him. I wanna tear that Kayaba bastard to tiny pieces and feed his soul to demons. I want him to be in such agony he begs for death. I-I..."

Unable to continue Dante stopped blocking his emotions. Letting Vergil experience it all for himself. Allowing him to feel depression and terror at what was happening to Marzanna, at the fact she could die. To experience Dante's rage at Kayaba, his desire for revenge, and his bloodlust. And wallow in Dante's shame at such thoughts and feelings. His shame in not believing in his daughter, at having such bloodthirsty thoughts for Kayaba. To feel Dante's self-hatred for going against everything he believed and told Vergil regarding humans and the fact they should never abuse their Nephilim abilities to hurt, kill, or enslave them. Dante simply sat there, drowning the torrent of negative emotions, waiting for Vergil to sift through and process them all.

Finally after almost two minutes Vergil sighed before pushing off the desk, and sitting next to Dante on the bed before speaking, "Dante. You've nothing to be ashamed of. Marzanna's your daughter, these feelings would be natural even if you were human. You're not though your Nephilim, and your demonic side makes those violent emotions all the worse. And of course you're terrified of losing Marzanna, like I already said she's _your daughter_. It's natural for a parent to worry about their child even when they're safe, and Marzanna's far from safe at the moment. As for feeling like you're going against your own beliefs... I don't know what to tell you except that while yes those thoughts and emotions go against what you've always believed, it doesn't change the fact that they're natural."

Dante shook his head before burying his face in his hands. Vergil sighed before putting his hand on Dante's shoulder and squeezing it in comfort. Vergil wasn't a hugger, unless it was Marzanna, but with how cold he normally was, and considering how he usually fought with Dante, that might as well have been a hug. That was all it took to finish off Dante's composer, letting his own tears finally escape into his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: In case anyone was wondering why Lily and Dante were immediately attracted to each other but Kirito(Kazuto) and Hanna(Marzanna) weren't. When Lily and Dante met they were both relaxed and relatively safe (Dante's a Demon Hunter, and related to Sparda, he's never truly safe) and Lily was even looking for someone to sleep with. Plus Dante is, or rather by this fic was, a ladies man. Whereas Hanna was seriously concerned and distracted first by the lack of log out button and then by the fact SAO had become a death game. If you notice I didn't delve into Kirito's perspective before he knew about the log out button/death game. It's only now that Marzanna's adjusting to the situation that she's noticing. Also since I'm pretty sure I'd get at least one comment about it if I don't say something, Kirito has shown multiple times in Canon that he'll adjust quickly to his situation whatever it might be. The times he doesn't in Canon are either when people die in front of him or when it's should technically be impossible for him to win. Marzanna on the other hand is a Demon Hunter, she's used to her life being in danger. The only thing she needed to adjust to was that this time she was in a video game. And Argo was panicking till Kirito messaged her.


	7. Sabotage, Trickery, And Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the last chapters crappiness, and that the characters personalities was off. That chapter was me trying to get back into my groove, remind myself 'ok this is where we were and what was happening'.
> 
> Also, the dialog between Diabel, Kibaou, and Agil is almost directly quoted from the anime. This won't happen often, but in this case I chose to keep the dialog the same rather than alter it.

December 2nd 2022- 26 days since SAO launch:

Hanna and Kirito were waiting in Tolbana, the town closest to the first floor's «Labyrinth», for the first boss raid meeting to begin in two hours. The previous day a party had announced the time and location of the meeting, and asked everyone who was willing to fight and over level nine to come. They were simply sitting on a bench a bit removed from the town's main plaza when Argo walked up to them.

Hanna smiled warmly at Argo while greeting her, "Hello again Argo, always nice to see you. That buyer send you back again?"

Argo smiled in return while replying, "It's good to see you too, Hanna-chan. Ya they've raised the price to 29,800 col now. And yes Kirito, I told them what you said last time about not wanting to sell your «Anneal Blade +8»(1) no matter how much they offered, but they're persistent."

Hanna grinned even wider when Kirito frowned at the two of them. While Argo was his friend he also considered her to be incredibly annoying. As such he'd been horrified when he realized that Argo and her got along like a house on fire once they got to know each other. Kirito shook his head, then turned to Argo to reply, "Seriously? Ok, I get that I've gotten lucky enough to max out the «Anneal Blade», and I get that it's the most powerful «One-Handed Straight Sword» till floor three. I even understand that with the new rules of Aincrad people desire the absolute best even more than usual to up their survival chances, but 29,800 for a sword? That's ridiculous."

Hanna frowned, then before Kirito could say more interrupted him, "Take the offer." Kirito stared at her in astonishment, but before he could reply she shook her head and continued, "Just trust me ok? Take the offer. We'll discuss it later. Much as I like Argo, neither of us are stupid enough to talk freely in front of her."

Kirito stared at her for a minute before nodding slowly. Turning to Argo he asked, "Guess I'll be taking that deal after all. Do you have the money already or do you need to see your mysterious buyer?"

Hanna frowned at the reminder of not knowing the buyers identity. Argo was well known to be willing to sell pretty much any information, except the identities of the beta testers, but if you paid her enough, she'd keep her buyers anonymous. Unless, of course, you paid her even more than the person paid to be anonymous. Which is why if you really wanted to be anonymous with Argo you had to try and pay more than you thought anyone would be willing to pay to learn your identity. It was tricky business, Argo's silence, but whoever wanted Kirito's sword, wanted Kirito to know who they were even less. Wanted it bad enough to have paid Argo 40,000 to keep quiet, and Kirito and herself weren't quite willing to fork over more than 40 thousand to learn their identity. More importantly no matter how good a weapon or the current circumstances of Aincrad, the almost 30,000 col was already very overpriced, much less the total 70,000 cost of the sword and their anonymity. At least not for first floor gear. Once they get to the upper floors, the amazing equipment will be easily twice the combined sword/anonymity price on its own.

Argo broke her out of her thoughts when she answered Kirito's question, "I don't have it right this minute, but I'll have it in 30 minutes max. Will you guys still be here, or are you going somewhere?"

Hanna spoke quickly, "We'll be back at the inn. Kirito and I need to have a private discussion _without_ risking any eavesdroppers." she paused to give a pointed look at Argo, who merely grinned unashamed, then continued, "My room is at the very end of the hall on the second floor. We'll be there. See you later, Argo."

Argo nodded and began walking off throwing back a lazy, "Later Kii-bou, Hanna-chan."

Getting back to the inn, and to her room quickly. Kirito plopped himself onto a chair, then raised an eyebrow and started talking, "What was that about, it may not have been apparent at first, but 30 thousand col makes it pretty obvious someone's trying to weaken **me** specifically. Though I can't figure out _why_ , but why are you letting them?"

"I'm assuming you haven't forgotten what happened when we went to do the «Secret Medicine if the Forest» quest?"

Kirito huffed before replying, "Of course not. After what Coper tried to do how could I?"

Hanna's face darkened at the reminder of Coper, who she'd been trying not to think about. An hour after they'd set out to do the quest so as to get Kirito's sword, they'd met Coper who was also attempting to get an «Anneal Blade». There'd quickly realized that he was a beta tester, and they'd agreed to help each other complete the quest. After an additional half hour of searching for a «Little Nepent» with a flower, which was the only type that dropped the item needed for the quest, they'd found one. However Coper betrayed them by purposely hitting the fruit on another «Little Nepent» that had spawned nearby. Hitting the fruit on a «Little Nepent» caused all nearby «Little Nepents» to not only become extremely aggressive, but to converge on the location of the «Little Nepent» with the fruit. In other words, Coper had tried to murder them via Monster PK.

Coper himself has almost been killed, as he was unaware that the «Hiding» skill didn't work on mobs that didn't rely on eyesight, but because she was watching his back Kirito had managed to save Coper. They'd gotten into a disagreement after that. Kirito understood that Coper only wanted the «Anneal Blade» and had only attempted to kill them out of desperation to make sure he got it, so as to survive Aincrad. She understood that as well, but had felt they had to do **_something_** , since in her opinion Coper's reasons didn't matter. All that mattered was that he'd tried to kill them. Eventually Kirito had simply given Coper the «Little Nepent Ovule» that was needed to complete the quest, and told him to leave and never bother them again. After that, it had taken them three more hours to find a «Little Nepent» with a flower, but by a stroke of luck they'd found not one, but _two_. So instead of one «Anneal Blade» they got two. Kirito had suggested giving the second sword away, so Hanna had tricked him into giving it to her, and then bluntly informed him that he wouldn't get it back unless he needed it.

Hanna shook herself from the dark path her thoughts had taken her down, then continued in a rough tone, "Well after you got lucky enough to get your sword up to plus eight, I took the liberty of upgrading the spare. Technically at the moment we have _two_ +8 Anneal Blades, but our mystery buyer doesn't know that. They'll think that you're weakened now that they've **_'convinced'_** you to sell your sword. Maybe it'll draw them out, so that at the very least we can possibly find out **why** they what to weaken you."

She knew Kirito well enough by now to know he heard everything she said, but someone who didn't know him would think he hadn't heard anything after 'two +8 Anneal Blades' with the way he got a slightly awed look on his face. A minute later Kirito began speaking lowly, "You got the spare up to plus eight as well? You must have crazy good luck." Hanna blushed, shook her head, and opened her mouth to deny it, but Kirito interrupted her, now speaking in a regular volume with a slightly teasing tone, "No seriously, I've always had horrible luck. Then I party with you and suddenly I've not only got two Anneal Blades, but they're **both** plus eight? Just getting a Little Nepent with a flower on its head to spawn takes either a little luck or a _lot_ of patience, but upgrading a weapon is completely luck based. To get two Anneal Blades fully upgraded..." he trailed off then shook his head, and with a playfully mischievous look, did a half bow from his seated position while saying, "I bow to you, oh luck goddess. Please continue to bestow your divine luck upon me."

With a blush heating her cheeks, Hanna huffed before replying, "Only if you continue to deserve it. And technically it's goddess of life."

Kirito grinned, "You got it!" then tilting his head in curiosity, "And what's a goddess of life?"

Hanna grinned lightly in return before responding, "Hanna, my screen name, it means goddess of life. I chose it as a joke to myself." seeing Kirito tilt his head again she explained, "In real life I'm named after a goddess of witchcraft, winter, and death. So when I named my character, I chose the name of a goddess of life."

Kirito grinned lightly and nodded his understanding. Just as he was about to say something though, someone knocked on the door. Opening the door Hanna swiftly invited Argo in, and they got down to business.

* * *

Hanna sat next to Kirito in the upper section of the amphitheater the meeting was to take place in, waiting for said meeting to begin. Kirito was watching the stage at the bottom of the amphitheater, she on the other hand was looking around at the other players trying to gauge their strength, which was _much_ harder in a video game than it was in real life. She was beginning to get the hang of it though. Just as she was halfway through looking at the other players she was yanked from her self-appointed task by two sharp claps from the stage.

Shifting her gaze to the stage, she saw a young man with blue hair and eyes. Immediately he began talking, "Okay, let's get started! Thank you all for showing up today. My name is Diabel. The job I chose is knight!"

It was obvious to her that he was trying to dispel the tension in the other people by joking about classes, and to his credit it worked. Immediately the other players started laughing and calling out that there wasn't a class system. She wasn't overly concerned with that though, she was more distracted by his name. She'd known a beta player by the name Diabel. She'd only originally been interested in him because she found his name amusing, really what was the luck that out of 1500 people, and _despite_ her anti-social tendencies, she'd meet a player whose name meant **_Devil_**. After talking to him for a while though, she'd found out that he was also an international beta tester, and from America like her. Though she used the term loosely, they'd become friends after that. However, Argus had sent out a questionnaire asking each tester if they were planning on using their beta account, so they could delete the accounts not in use. The problem was that at the end of the beta Diabel still hadn't decided whether he wanted to keep his beta account or not. So, the question was whether or not _this_ Diabel was the Diabel she knew from the beta, or if Diabel let his account be deleted and this was another player who happened to choose the same name. She didn't think the latter was the case, it seemed unlikely, but she wasn't completely sure.

She was pulled from her thoughts when the others in the amphitheater started clapping and whistling, she tuned back in to what was being said in time to hear Diabel continue talking, "First, we'll divide everyone into parties of six. Please take a moment to do so.

From the corner of her eye she saw Kirito calmly glance around. People were quickly forming full parties with their friends and acquaintances, so it was unlikely they could join them, which meant they'd probably be the incomplete party of stragglers. Kirito tapped her shoulder, and once she'd glanced over nodded his head towards the only other player without a party that she could see. Once she nodded in agreement to asking the stray player, Kirito slid over to her. She saw them talk for a few moments, and Kirito quickly manipulate his menu, then a third name and health bar appeared below her own and Kirito's. Taking a quick glance she learned the girls name was Asuna.

A moment later Diabel began speaking again, "Okay, have you formed your parties? Then-"

Abruptly Diabel was interrupted by a player yelling from the top of the amphitheater, "Wait up a sec!" the player began hopping down the steps, and landed a few feet away from Diabel. Hanna rolled her eyes. From his entrance and the fact that he'd **clearly** spent all his money on one piece of expensive scale mail armor, and subsequently left the rest of his gear to be distinctly lacking, it was obvious he was trying to be flashy. Pointing at himself, the player loudly proclaimed, "My name's Kibaou. I just wanna say something before we take this boss on. Some of you here need to apologize to the thousands who've died so far!"

Kibaou finished by pointing sharply at the crowd. There was murmuring from everyone at his bold accusation. Then Diabel spoke up, "Kibaou, are you saying the beta testers should apologize?"

Without hesitation Kibaou rounded on Diabel and bitterly replied, "Of course I am! The day this stupid game started, the testers ditched all the newbies, leaving us all to die. They took all the good grinding spots and easy quests for themselves, ensuring that they could get ahead. And then they just ignored the rest of us!" turning his anger back on the crowd he continued, "I have no doubt that someone here was in the beta! They should get down on their knees and apologize, and give up all the items and money they've hoarded. If they don't, we can't trust them to protect us as party members, and they can't trust us either!"

Hanna narrowed her eyes on Kibaou, she was furious that he would dare shove blame on them. First of all, Argo had been keeping track of as many beta testers as she could, and of the 2 thousand that had died so far, almost three hundred had been beta testers. Second, Argo had started compiling a book of tips and tricks from the beta testers less than a week after this death game started. She'd personally given Argo at least three chapters worth on manual sword fighting, and Kirito had proved to be a fountain of knowledge as well. Before her temper could become explosive, she heard Kirito let out a shuddering breath. Glancing over quickly she saw him shaking lightly with his eyes clenched shut. Her eyes softened and her anger dissipated at the sight. In the month they'd been together, she'd come to realize that illogical though it was, Kirito thought himself to be a selfish bastard, simply because he hadn't helped anyone face to face. She'd tried pointing out how many people he'd undoubtedly helped with the information he'd given Argo. Especially the stuff on choosing a play style, what skills to choose to best compliment certain aspects of each style, and the most efficient way to place your stat points for your character build. Kirito was very stubborn though, so she hadn't really made any progress on convincing him that he was actually a great guy.

Reaching over she grabbed one of the hands he had clenched and pressed tightly into his legs, and squeezed gently. His eyes snapped open instantly and all of his breath came out in one sharp exhale. He glanced at her, and she smiled. He closed his eyes again, and pulled in a shaky breath, held it for a moment, then let it out slowly. After that he slowly unclenched his hands. Reopening his eyes he flipped the hand in her grip, and gave it a return squeeze, while glancing at her with a grateful look in his eyes.

The interaction had taken less than a minute, during which time everyone else was murmuring at Kibaou's allegation. They were yanked out of their own little world when a deep voice abruptly cut through the muttering of the crowd. Though Hanna noticed that Kirito didn't release her hand. Not that she was complaining. It felt... nice, actually.

The deep voice rumbled out, "Hang on just a minute." the speaker stood up, revealing himself to be a massive bald man, and walk down to the stage before continuing calmly, "My name is Agil. I want to make sure I understood you correctly. Are you saying that so many beginners died because the beta testers didn't babysit them? That they should take responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation? Is that right?"

Kibaou looked distinctly nervous as he stuttered out his reply, "Y-Yeah."

Agil rummaged in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a small brown book. With a jolt she recognized it as the very same book she'd been thinking of moments prior. Agil held up the book, and continued with his line of questioning, "You picked up this guide book, didn't you? It was provided for free at the item store."

Kibaou looked mildly confused, but responded anyway, "Course I did... What's that got to do with anything?"

In response, Agil simply informed Kibaou and the dead silent crowd, "It was compiled from information that the beta testers provided."

Immediately the crowds silence was broken as disbelieving murmuring cut through Agil and Kibaou's discussion. Kibaou frowned, but Agil ignored him and turned back to the crowd, "Listen. Everyone had equal access to this information. And many players died regardless. I thought that we were having a discussion here about what we could learn from their deaths, and how that knowledge can help us defeat this boss."

Some agreement came from the crowd at that. Agil turned back to Kibaou and gave him a pointed look. Kibaou scowled, then with a sharp huff, angrily took a seat. After waiting for Agil to sit back down Diabel reached back and pulled out his own copy of the guide book Argo made, "Alright. Let's continue then, shall we?"

* * *

Dante was attempting to keep himself busy with the influx of jobs in Japan. Since there were over 500 players from various countries around the word, instead of only Japanese citizens, the SAO incident was being considered an act of international terrorism. So being considered terrorism, the various governments were paying for the majority of expenses related to the ongoing incident. This included medical expenses, and safely relocating victims and their families to Japan, as they were the best equipped out of all the countries to handle those stuck in that death game, should the families choose such. As far as the non-magical governments knew Marzanna's family had chosen to relocate. What only the magical governments knew, and allowed as long as proper precautions were taken, was that once Vergil and Dante had arrived they'd swiftly 'bought' the small house and large property Dante owned under a fake name, and Vergil had cast a complicated spell that caused the Devil May Cry shop to exist in two places at once. Before they'd gone to Japan, Vergil and Lily, once she'd calmed enough not to burst into tears randomly, had magically expanded the shop. Creating an exact replica of the shop on the back of the house. Vergil anchored the back shop, and of course the attached house, in Japan. Then they'd sealed all the doors between the shop in America and the shop in Japan, so that no customers accidentally wandered from one country to another, but they could freely move between the two as they needed.

The reason Dante had owned the house and property was that they'd been taking international jobs for year, coincidentally the job to Fortuna Island that he'd met Nero on had been the first, but there'd been quite a few since. However they'd only really been able to take the ones that somehow caught their attention. They'd all known that there were plenty they simply never became aware of. That had changed when Vergil returned from hell, and Lily moved in shortly after. Vergil and Lily has both been delighted to have someone who enjoyed in depth debates on magic as much as they did, so there had suddenly been a _lot_ of magical improvements to the house, all born from those debates. One of those improvements had started with the two demanding he get into the emergency funds and buy various properties in major or well-placed counties. He'd refused until they explained what they wanted the homes for. Vergil and Lily had worked out a way to anchor two doors to each other no matter where they were in the world. So the houses were needed as both anchors, and so that no one noticed their arrivals or departures, which would get the magicals on their cases. In less than three months they'd had 25 doors to various countries set up in their basement, which was of course magically sealed. Once Marzanna had been trapped in that game though, the doorway to Japan wouldn't suffice. Hence the original doorway being disconnected, and the shop existing in both America and Japan at the same time. Well to be technical the front shop only existed in America, and the back shop only existed in Japan. Technically only the house existed in both places, and was attached to both.

Once the house had been anchored people had begun doing their best to distract themselves. For Dante, Nero, and Vergil, this was by taking on the increasing number of jobs in Japan. Demons were attracted to tragedy, and with two thousand deaths already, they were being drawn to Japan like moths to a flame. Lady, Kat, and Trish would be helping with the jobs, but they had their own task. Within a few days of Marzanna getting trapped, it became apparent that Dante wasn't the only one who wanted Kayaba to pay. The whole family had been on a warpath. This had also led the others to finding out that Eva was a Seraphim, the most powerful species of Angel, and yes that was _species_ unlike what people belied there were more than four Seraphim. Although they were **extremely** rare. Once Eva, and everyone else's, fury was curbed to controllable levels, Kat, Lady, and Trish had set out trying to track down Kayaba. It may be against their beliefs to kill humans, as tempting as it was in Kayaba's case, that belief didn't stop them from making him pay. Though that actually did go against the general view of not even hurting humans, in Kayaba's case they were all willing to make an... _exception_. Even Kyrie, who was normally kind, sweet, and against violence, was bloodthirsty when it came to Kayaba.

Kayaba better hope the authorities caught up to him before they did, because they would make him pay heavily for threatening Marzanna's life.

* * *

Mike was conflicted. When his name first came out of the goblet of fire more than a month ago he'd been startled, but ecstatic. When Hagrid had tipped him off about the dragons he'd been weary, but confident. Now after actually facing the Hungarian Horntail, he finally understood just how dangerous this tournament was. He'd also finally realized that whoever put his name in the goblet was trying to kill him. He'd tried talking to his father, to ask if there really was no way to get out of competing in the tournament, but his dad had just looked at him weirdly and asked why he'd _want_ to get out of the chance to increase his fame and glory. Dumbledore wasn't any help either, he'd simply flashed that old grandfatherly smile of his and calmly said that all things happened for a reason. Since it had finally occurred to him that someone was trying to kill him, he was pretty sure Dumbledore was using him as bait. That idea didn't sit well with Mike, not after having spent his whole life having complete faith in Dumbledore's wisdom and power.

He'd eventually gotten desperate enough that he'd asked Hermione Granger, the resident bookworm in Gryffindor. He'd spent the previous three years doing his best to avoid the girl after she'd given him and Ron a two hour lecture on doing their homework, a mere week after their first year started. When he'd approached her she'd initially been defensive, thinking he wanted help solving the egg he'd gotten during the first task. After he explained what he wanted to know she'd gotten a strange look on her face and asked a question similar to his dad. Unlike his father's inquiry though, it was obvious that Hermione meant it in a manner of why the 'Great' Mike Potter wanted to get out of a chance to make himself more famous. Especially since he was, in her words, an 'attention whore'. It had taken him half an hour to explain that he'd finally had his eyes opened to what was really happening. It would have taken less time, but Hermione kept interrupting with snide comments.

Eventually once he was done talking, Hermione had stared at him for a moment with a contemplating look on her face. Then finally after almost a full minute, she'd sighed before informing him that she'd looked up the tournament rules out of curiosity when the tournament was announced. She'd bluntly informed him that the only ways out of the tournament that he had control over were victory or death. The tournament would of course end if one of the other champions won, but unless he helped them, it was out of his hands.

He'd sat there for a good fifteen minutes taking that in with a solemn expression, before quietly thanking Hermione for her time, and getting up to leave. He didn't question Hermione's answer, the girl wouldn't share information with anyone unless she was utterly sure of it. Hermione gave him another strange look before asking him to stay. He'd been startled, but obliged. To be honest after the way three quarters of the school were treating him with scorn, and the remainder treated him like he was the second Merlin, Hermione was... refreshing. Sure she didn't like him, and treated him with contempt, but at least unlike the rest of the school she didn't like him for his attitude and the type of person he was, rather than something completely out of his hands.

For a few minutes there was an awkward silence, but then Hermione seemed to gather her thoughts. She quietly commented on him changing, and that she hoped it was for the better, before offering to help with his egg. He'd protested for a minute, not wanting to bother her any more than he had. She'd gaped at him for a minute, before commenting that he really _was_ changing, and rapidly. He knew exactly why she said it to. A mere eight days prior he would've accepted her help, then once he no longer needed her, ditched her and claim he figured it out himself. All without ever once even **_thinking_** about how she'd feel about it. Worse yet, even after doing that to her if he needed help again, he would've gone back again and expected her to help him despite what he'd done. And if he'd managed to convince her to help again? He'd just repeat the whole thing all over.

It truly was astonishing how nearly dying, realizing someone was trying to kill him, and that neither his father nor mentor, Dumbledore, really **cared** could change a person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Mike's finally here! He'll be taking his spot as one of the main characters. Anyway, I've put a poll on my profile about who Mike should be paired with, if at all. Personally I lean towards Hermione, but I included Asuna, Lizbeth, Suguha, Sinon, Sachi, and even Argo. Yes minor spoiler, Sachi's gonna survive, and that's only a minor spoiler, because I'm not saying anything about the rest of the moonlit black cats. Or if there are enough votes for it I'll leave him unpaired.
> 
> Ugg. Dante's section is all clunky and awkward. I tried to make it smoother, but what's above was the best I could do.
> 
> (1) Yes I am aware that in canon Kirito only got the Anneal Blade up to plus six. This is not ignorance. I chose to alter it. Also, for those who haven't read the light novels, the part about someone trying to buy Kirito's Anneal Blade was omitted from the anime. I've never read the manga so I'm unaware if it was included there.


	8. Beaters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An: I know when Hanna sent Klein a friend request she said a player would probably outright disappear from a person's friend list, and that is how it works in canon. However since I made it so that some of the beta testers' accounts got deleted when they made a new account I made how the system treats a player on a person's friend list dying work a tad differently.

The first floor boss raid meeting had adjourned a few hours previous. Currently many of those participating in the raid were in the main plaza celebrating that they'd found the boss room and made a rather solid plan to tackle the boss. Marzanna thought it was a bit silly to celebrate before they'd even fought the boss, but she wasn't about to stop them. It wasn't like they could get hangovers, and low morale could be just as dangerous as shoddy equipment in a fight. If drinking and generally making fools of themselves helped keep everyone's morale up about the outcome of tomorrow's fight, then so be it.

 Marzanna was in the plaza waiting for Kirito to return, he'd mumbled something about food before leaving. She was watching Diabel, who was currently talking to Kibaou. She hadn't checked her friends list since the game started, she was admittedly too scared to see if any of her friends were greyed out with a cross next to their name, the manner in which the system marked a player dead, but after the meeting ended she had. Diabel had indeed still been on there and been alive, meaning he had chosen to use his beta account. A quick check of his location had confirmed that the Diabel from the meeting was the one she knew, rather than simply someone with a similar name. Narrowing her eyes at Diabel she wondered what he was up to. Normally he wouldn't hang around people like Kibaou, but Diabel would when he needed them for something. Diabel is a rather devious person, and he was almost _always_ planning _something_. Marzanna tilted her head as she thought about that. Someone was trying to weaken Kirito by buying his sword. Narrowing her eyes again she wondered if Diabel had something to do with buying Kirito's sword.

She was broken from her thoughts as someone abruptly spoke, "You're thinking rather hard there Hanna. Is something wrong?"

Turning to Kirito she saw he was looking at her in concern, so she quickly gave him a reassuring smile before responding, "No, not precisely." Turning her head to look at Diabel again, she briefly contemplated whether she should tell Kirito, since her suspicion was exactly that. A suspicion, she had no proof at all that Diabel was the one trying to sabotage Kirito. She discarded the idea within seconds, proof or not Kirito had a right to know, "I think it's Diabel." seeing Kirito tilt his head in confusion she elaborated, "The person who bought your sword, I think it's Diabel. Even if it wasn't him specifically, he probably has something to do with it."

Kirito had started pulling food from his inventory, but paused to ask, "Why? Diabel doesn't seem like the kind of person who'd try something like that. Admittedly I haven't spoken to him personally but..." Kirito trailed off for a moment before returning his gaze to her, "Did you talk to him while I was gone? Is that why you think it's him?"

Hanna shook her head before replying, "No. I haven't talked to him since the beta. However I did know an American beta player by the name Diabel, and while you were gone I confirmed that he is in fact the Diabel I knew in the beta. The thing about Diabel is that he's incredibly devious and he's always up to something. This turning into a death game would probably curb those tendencies, but it wouldn't outright stop them. He'd just be more careful so as to not inadvertently kill anyone."

Kirito had handed her the food he got her during her explanation, then as she finished he started eating his food with a thoughtful expression, mulling over what she told him. Finally he swallowed the bite he'd been chewing before speaking, "I see. Do you have any idea why? I'm pretty sure I never met him I'm the beta, so it probably isn't a personal grudge, and I can't think of any other reason Diabel would target me."

Hanna hummed in thought then said, "No idea. I may have known Diabel well enough to tentatively call him a friend, but admittedly I rarely knew what he was planning unless I managed to get him to tell me. And getting him to talk has never been easy, but I'd be even harder since he's seen me with you. Then again, this is all just my own suspicions. I haven't seen him do anything to actually suggest he has anything to do with buying your sword, he might be completely innocent and not even know anyone is trying to weaken you."

Kirito tilted his head and stared at her for a minute before responding, "Do you think it's him?" Hanna nodded, so Kirito continued, "If you think it's him, then that's good enough for me. What do you think we should do?"

Hanna was startled at Kirito's faith in her opinion. Sure they'd become rather good friends in the month since this stupid death game started, but she wasn't used to anyone outside of her family trusting her. She felt her cheeks begin to flush. Quickly forcing her oncoming blush down, she cleared her throat before answering Kirito's question, "For now? Nothing. I'd like to talk to Diabel, but don't mention the sword ok?"

Getting a nod from Kirito, Hanna turned back to the plaza and called out, "Hey Diabel? Could you come here?"

Diabel looked over at his name then started making his way over. Once he was only a few feet from her he smiled in a friendly manner before speaking, "You're in the raid tomorrow aren't you? In Group E taking care of the «Ruined Kobold Sentinels»?" Hanna nodded, "Glad to have you with us, but uhh sorry I didn't get your name."

She put on a look of mock hurt, "Why Diabel I'm wounded. I know we haven't seen each other since the beta, but I didn't think I was _that_ forgettable."

Diabel looked shocked at the fact she knew he was in the beta, then confused before flickering his eyes up towards her green player cursor. Unlike regular MMOs in VRMMOs the system only showed you a player's name under their cursor if they were on your friends list. She figured Diabel had taken her familiarity with him as them knowing each other well enough for her to be on his list. She couldn't stop herself from laughing when he saw her name pop up after a couple seconds. His eyes went wide and he returned his gaze to her face gaping like a fish.

A moment later he snapped out of his shock and started rambling, "Hanna-chan! You're alive! That's great! Well I mean I knew you were alive since I saw you on my friends list, but I didn't expect to see you here. Not that it's shocking that your participating in the boss raid you were always **_really_** good, but it definitely took me by surprise to see you so suddenly. Not that it's really all that sudden, just. I'm rambling aren't I? Sorry you just surprised me, and I'm still rambling. You know I'm just gonna shut up now before I make an even bigger fool of myself."

Hanna started laughing halfway through his tirade. It was rare for Diabel to lose his composure, but she found it hilarious every time. In the beta it had gotten to the point that she had actively messed with him, deliberately trying to get him to lose his cool.

Shaking her head she grinned at him, "It's nice to see you to Diabel. Always fun to mess with your head." looking at Kirito she saw him smiling at them in bemusement, she gestured to him before continuing, "This is Kirito, a friend of mine and my party member."

Diabel's eyes narrowed just a fraction at Kirito's name then widened in surprise at the rest of her sentence. His surprise was understandable, she rarely called someone her friend and she never partied with anyone. However the more important part was that he'd clearly recognized Kirito's name, making it even more likely that it was him trying to buy Kirito's sword. Ignoring it for the moment, she started discussing the boss raid tomorrow with Kirito and Diabel.

Twenty minutes into the discussion Kirito tapped her shoulder, after seeing he had her attention he gestured down a street to her left while saying, "Isn't that Asuna?" glancing over Hanna nodded in agreement, speaking in a manner that made it clear he was talking to himself more than her he continued, "I wonder what she's doing all alone?" Kirito fell silent for a minute before turning back to her, "Hey I'm gonna go talk to her. I'll meet you back at the inn later."

Hanna nodded then watched him walk off. Turing back to Diabel she saw him staring at Kirito with a strange look on his face. Hanna sighed, "Kirito's a good guy you know. I don't know why you wanted to weaken him, or what you're up to Diabel, and frankly I don't care. Just make sure no one gets hurt, and for fucks sake, be **careful**. We may not be overly close but you're still my friend. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Diabel stared at her silently for a moment then nodded, "I know Hanna. Trust me I _know_. I am being careful, and I'm not gonna endanger anyone. More importantly, 'friend and party member'? I can't think of anyone other than myself you've ever introduced as a friend and you've **never** partied with anyone, despite my numerous attempts to persuade you to team up with me. He must be something special to have caught your attention."

Hanna opened her mouth, but before she could reply Kibaou called out to Diabel. He turned and gave them the one minute sign, but before he could even fully turn back to her she shook her head at him, "I don't know why you're hanging out with that guy. He's an arrogant jerk, _and_ he isn't even a tolerable arrogant jerk like you are." Diabel opened his mouth to deny her insult, but she just shook her head again, "Go on Diabel. Have fun, cause some mischief. Just be careful, I've got a bad feeling that whatever you're up to isn't going to go the way you plan it to."

Diabel grew serious at that. He knew that her bad feelings were usually spot on. He started walking backwards to Kibaou and his buddies, "I will Hanna. You be careful too. I don't need to tell you this, but this place is dangerous. I don't want to see you hurt."

His peace said Diabel turned around and rejoined Kibaou. With a smile that, while friendly, she knew to be utterly fake he started chatting with Kibaou's group.

* * *

The next day- December 3rd, 2022:

Everyone else was double checking their equipment one last time before the boss fight began. Diabel walked up to the boss door, then turned around to them, "Listen up everyone. I only have one thing to say to you all. Let's win! Let's go!"

Turning back to the boss door, Diabel put his hand on it. Creaking loudly it opened immediately. As soon as the door finished opening, people started cautiously entering. At the end of the dark room Hanna could vaguely see the boss lift its head. Its eyes started glowing red and it grabbed its weapon as it stood up. Immediately the room lit up brightly, and the boss name and four health bars appeared proclaiming it to be «Illfang the Kobold Lord». Three «Ruined Kobold Sentinels» spawned a moment later. With a loud roar from the boss, it and the Sentinels charged.

Undaunted Diabel lifted his sword above his head and started shouting, "Commence attack! Tanks forward! Group A get the boss's attention on yourself first, Group B be ready to switch with them at my command. Groups C and D wait till the tanks have its attention then start hitting it with all you've got, if it switches its attention to you fall back and let the tanks get it to refocus on them. Group E take care of the Sentinels! I don't want them bothering groups A through D! Groups F and G you're on standby, but be ready to switch at a moments notice!

Hanna was impressed. Diabel had never seemed like a leader to her, but he was actually rather good at it. For the next twenty minutes, Hanna and her party dealt with the constantly respawning Sentinels. Hanna listened intently to Diabel shout orders, and kept an eye on the battle. Finally Illfang's fourth HP bar depleted to 1/3 and Illfang jumped away and threw his ax and shield. This was the signal that the boss had lost enough HP and was switching tactics.

However rather than go by the original plan of surrounding Illfang, Diabel abruptly yelled for the other groups to stand back, and rushed in while charging a one hit massive damage sword skill. With a jolt Hanna realized what he was doing, _'He's trying to get the last attack bonus. That idiot's going to get himself killed!'_

Finishing off the last Sentinel Hanna shouted, "Diabel don't!" out of the corner of her eye she saw Kibaou look at her strangely, but ignored it. Diabel had smiled at her, meaning he wasn't going to listen. Already running towards Diabel and Illfang Hanna shouted over her shoulder, "Kirito, Asuna! Come on!"

Kirito followed her without hesitation, and Asuna caught up a moment later. Abruptly Kirito inhaled sharply. She could see why, rather than the talwar it was supposed to have, Illfang drew a nōdachi. Kirito shouted loudly, "Diabel! It's no good! Retreat as fast as you can!"

They were almost to Diabel when Illfang abruptly jumped and started bouncing around the room, Hanna tilted her head and shouted to Kirito, "Kirito get a foot in front of me now!"

He jolted, then got into a position. Hanna immediately started charging a heavy sword. As soon as Illfang launched itself at Diabel. Hanna jumped onto Kirito's back, then using him as a springboard, launched herself to intercept Illfang. Illfang looked at her at the last second, only to receive her sword skill right to his face and get violently thrown back. She wasn't a heavy hitter though, so it wasn't a surprise that the skill didn't finish off Illfang. Instead he bounced twice before slamming into one of the rooms many pillars, nearly crushing a Sentinel that spawned seconds before.

Using the last couple seconds before her skills cool down kicked in, Hanna twisted so she wouldn't land to hard and shouted, "Kirito now, while it's stunned! Asuna the Sentinel!"

Asuna immediately ran ahead of Kirito and dealt with the «Ruined Kobold Sentinel». Kirito didn't even pause, hitting Illfang with a heavy sword skill of his own, hurling the boss a few feet into the air. Illfang seemed to freeze in midair for a couple seconds before shattering into thousands of polygons. A split second later a large 'Congratulations!' appeared were Illfang was, and a loud fanfare cut through the heavy silence. The quite only lasted five more seconds before the raid group started cheering wildly.

Hanna's skill cool down ended, unfreezing her. Glancing at Diabel she saw him looking rather pale, which was understandable since Illfang's sword had been less than five feet from his face when she slammed into him. Speaking loud enough to be heard over the crowd she asked, "Diabel? Are you alright?"

Getting a shaky nod from Diabel she turned back to Kirito, who had his back to them. He seemed to be staring at the congratulations window. She quickly made her way over to him, and got his attention with a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned quickly, clearly startled, however before she could say anything Kibaou angrily yelled at the crowd, "Stop cheering!"

Dead silence fell, as everyone turned to Kibaou in shock at how he could be angry when they'd just beat the boss. Kibaou glared at her and Kirito before furiously continuing, "You two! You could've gotten Diabel- No **all** of us killed! You both _knew_ the boss wouldn't behave in the manner the guide book said it would, yet you didn't say anything at the meeting! You-"

Diabel quickly composed himself, and angrily cut across Kibaou, "Enough! The boss was obviously changed since the beta-"

Kibaou only seemed to grow more enraged, "Exactly! Yet they still knew! They still knew even though it was different than the beta! They're even worse than beta testers! They're cheaters! They're beta testers **and** cheaters! That's the only explanation! And I bet there are more of them here! Come out, you cheaters! Now!"

Hanna stared horrified. Kibaou was causing mistrust to spread through the other players like a plague. If the people who would be making up the boss raid parties didn't trust each other, then they'd **_never_** get out of here. Something had to be done, and fast before the mistrust Kibaou was planting became rooted in everyone's minds. But what to do? With the accusations Kibaou just threw at her the others weren't likely to listen to her, if anything they'd probably think her protests proved Kibaou right.

Before she could figure out what to do, she was taken off guard when Kirito abruptly burst into dark laughter. Walking past her and stopping a few feet in front of her, Kirito leveled Kibaou with a condescending smirk and spoke in a dark dangerous tone, "Cheater? Alright, I'll give you that one, but beta tester? Don't make me laugh. Ya I was in the beta, but don't associate me with those utter noobs. Those guys were so green, they didn't even know how to level up properly. Even _you_ guys are better than they were."

Kibaou gaped at Kirito. A minute later one of Kibaou's buddies composed himself, "See he admits it! He's a beta tester and a cheater! He's-he's... A beater!"

Hanna narrowed her eyes, then glanced at Diabel. He was staring at Kirito in shock, disbelief, and... respect? It was strange to see Diabel look at Kirito in respect considering a mere two days ago he was trying to sabotage him. Hanna glanced at Kirito, then feeling more determination than she had in her entire life, she made up her mind.

Kirito let a slow dark grin spread across his face, and started manipulating his menu then equipped a black trench coat she'd never seen before. With a condescending smirk he replied, "Beater, huh? I like it. Alright you can call me that just don't confuse me with those noobie beta testers."

Kirito turned to her, Hanna could see the apology hidden in his eyes and immediately understood what he was going to do. He was going to push her away so he wouldn't drag her down with him. Narrowing her eyes in annoyance she cut across him before he had a chance to say anything, "Always gotta waste time playing around with the losers. Honestly, if I've told you once I've told you a hundred times, they aren't worth the effort."

Kirito's eyes widened in shock, but he didn't contradict her. It was too late now. She'd cemented it into everyone else's minds that she was with Kirito. So instead he plastered on a fake pout then whined, "Must you always ruin my fun? I like fucking with their heads." She glared at him, so he gave a dramatic sigh before continuing, "Fine, fine. Let's go."

They went to the end of the boss room and started going up the stairs to the next floor. The stairs went up in a spiral, and Hanna barely waited till they were far enough up to be out of sight before grabbing Kirito's arm and yanking him around to face her, "Let me make one thing perfectly clear. The only reason I'm not punching you in the face for your stupidity is because you're incapable of feeling it, making it rather pointless." Kirito opened his mouth to protest, but she shut him up with a glare, then continued, "No. That _was_ pure stupidity. You just made yourself public enemy number one, and you were gonna run off on you **_own_** leaving me behind?"

Kirito's jaw tightened and when he spoke his voice was tense, "Yes. They were already going to make me one of the most hated people in Aincrad. At the very least I could manipulate the situation so beta testers stop being discriminated against, but I sure as hell wasn't dragging you down with me, so don't you make it sound like I was abandoning you. I was _trying_ to protect you."

Hanna lost her temper at that, "I don't need protection! I've been hated and discriminated against my **entire** life, it doesn't matter to me one bit what any of them think! What matters is that one of the few people I _actually **care**_ about just threw themselves to the proverbial wolves, and even worse tried to do it **alone**!"

She was panting, more out of habit than necessity, at the end of her tirade, and glaring daggers at him. Kirito stared wide eyed at her in return, when he finally composed himself he lowered his head before speaking quietly, "I understand why you're upset, I do, but I'm not going to apologize. I know we've only known each other for a month, but even if you don't _need_ me to protect you I _care_ about you. I **_want_** to protect you. So, I'm not gonna say sorry, because I wouldn't mean it, and I don't like saying things I don't mean." lifting his head he gave her an exasperated grin before continuing, "Besides it's a moot point now. After what you pulled back there, there's no going back."

Hanna huffed before sharply snapping back, "Good! Someone obviously needs to keep you from getting in over your head!" finally losing the last of her righteous fury she softened, then jokingly said, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but you're not getting rid of me that easily."

Kirito grinned lightly then tilted his head with a simple, "Oh? That so?"

Hanna gave a firm nod before grinning at him and proclaiming, "Yup! I'm like a vampire, once you invite me in there are no take backs. You're stuck with me."

Kirito's laughter proved to be infectious, as it wasn't long before Hanna had joined him.

* * *

**Kirito pov:**

The boss fight had been going well up until Diabel decided to abandoned the plan and rushed Illfang alone. The second Hanna took off he followed. He didn't even need her shout to tell him to join her, he'd already been right behind her.

As Illfang drew his secondary weapon, Kirito felt like his blood had turned to ice. That wasn't a talwar. **_That wasn't a talwar._** Before he even realized it he heard his own voice desperately yell, "Diabel! It's no good! Retreat as fast as you can!"

For a minute he let hope get the better of him, let himself give into the wild belief that they'd make it. That hope was crushed when Illfang started jumping around. He was yanked from his despair when Hanna shouted at him, "Kirito get a foot in front of me now!"

He jolted in confusion. He didn't understand why, they wouldn't make it. Nonetheless, he did as she asked. Not even a second later he heard the hum of a sword skill charging up. A couple seconds later Illfang moved to attack Diabel. Immediately he felt something land on him, he almost stumbled when the same thing disappeared with a heavy push.

Looking up he saw Hanna had launched herself to intercept Illfang. In a rather detached manner it occurred to him that she'd used him like he was some sort of trampoline. Before that thought could go any further, Hanna rammed her sword skill right into Illfang's face sending him skidding into a pillar, narrowly missing a Sentinel. Not even a second later Hanna shouted at them, "Kirito now, while it's stunned! Asuna the Sentinel!"

Neither of them needed to be told twice. Asuna rushed past him and took care of the Sentinel. He all but ignored her though, as he hit Illfang with a one hit sword skill, he cleaved from Illfang's left hip to right shoulder. Illfang was lifted a few feet of the ground, then seemed to freeze in midair before shattering as all mobs do. Kirito was so shocked at how quickly it seemed to end that he barely noticed the congratulating banner, the fanfare, or the cheering. He whirled around when he felt a hand touch his shoulder, though he immediately relaxed when he saw it was a smiling Hanna.

Hanna opened her mouth to say something, but before she could Kibaou started shouting his head off. As Kibaou and Diabel briefly argued, Kirito grew furious. Kibaou could say whatever he wanted about him, fine whatever, but saying those things about Hanna? Kirito had never been a violent person. Sure when he'd started playing VRMMOs he'd noticed he was a bit of a berserker, but that was _different_. He wasn't actually hurting anyone. Now though, now he wanted to beat Kibaou's face in. Not his avatar, but his _real_ face.

Kirito forced himself to take a calming breath. It was clear he wasn't going to talk his way out of this, so he might as well make the best of a bad situation. He wouldn't drag the other beta testers or Hanna down with him. **Especially** Hanna. Kirito had always been strangely good at acting, considering how little he interacted with people due to his anti-social tendencies. Kirito did his best 'bad guy' laugh. Not one of those overly dramatic ridiculous ones, but one that could easily come from a cruel and sadistic person in _real_ life. While laughing he walked past Hanna and stood in front of her, so as to draw negative attention away from her. He gave a big 'hate me I'm the bad guy' speech, and equipped the «Coat of Midnight» he got as the last attack bonus at just the right moment for dramatic affect.

Then he turned to Hanna apology in his eyes, but cruel smirk blaring, determined to make sure her name didn't get dragged through the mud with his own. He was startled when she damn near glared at him, but before he could say anything, she beat him to it, "Always gotta waste time playing around with the losers. Honestly, if I've told you once I've told you a hundred times, they aren't worth the effort."

He was shocked. Why? He knew she could tell what he was going to do. She had an out from all the hatred that was sure to be directed at them after today. So why? Why'd she throw it away? It was too late to go back now, what's done is done. So after putting the finishing touches on their little act, he started for the stairs, Hanna following closely.

As soon as they were hidden from the other players' views, Hanna roughly yanked him towards her and all but snarled in a low dangerous tone, "Let me make one thing perfectly clear. The only reason I'm not punching you in the face for your stupidity is because you're incapable of feeling it, making it rather pointless." Kirito tried to protest, but she glared harshly before continuing, "No. That _was_ pure stupidity. You just made yourself public enemy number one, and you were gonna run off on your **_own_** leaving me behind?"

Kirito clenched his jaw in anger. Couldn't she see he was trying to protect her? Why was she angry about that? Tense with confusion and anger he replied in rather clipped tones, "Yes. They were already going to make me one of the most hated people in Aincrad. At the very least I could manipulate the situation so beta testers stop being discriminated against, but I sure as hell wasn't dragging you down with me, so don't you make it sound like I was abandoning you. I was _trying_ to _protect_ you."

Hanna immediately snapped back in righteous fury, "I don't need protection! I've been hated and discriminated against my **entire** life, it doesn't matter to me one bit what any of them think! What matters is that one of the few people I _actually **care**_ about just threw themselves to the proverbial wolves, and even worse tried to do it **alone**!"

That shut Kirito up quickly. He'd only known her for a month, but Hanna was precious to him already, and it meant a lot to him that she cared so much about him. What really got him though, was the second sentence. How could anyone hate Hanna? How **_dare_** anyone discriminate against her?

He wanted to ask about it, as far as he was concerned it was far more important than what they'd been arguing about. He knew that this meant something to Hanna though. So lowering his head and reigning in his fury, he quietly explained, "I understand why you're upset, I do, but I'm not going to apologize. I know we've only known each other for a month, but even if you don't _need_ me to protect you I _care_ about you. I **_want_** to protect you. So, I'm not gonna say sorry, because I wouldn't mean it, and I don't like saying things I don't mean." lifting his head up and looking her in the eye he couldn't stop the exasperated grin that made its way across his lips, before he continued, "Besides it's a moot point now. After what you pulled back there, there's no going back."

Apparently determined to get the last word Hanna snapped back, "Good! Someone obviously needs to keep you from getting in over your head!" her anger finally seemed to deflate, and she softened then jokingly said, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but you're not getting rid of me that easily."

Kirito couldn't stop the grin that tugged at his lips even if he wanted to, "Oh? That so?"

Hanna nodded before grinning and proclaiming, "Yup! I'm like a vampire, once you invite me in there are no take backs. You're stuck with me."

It was so ridiculous it startled a laugh out of him. Not that he was complaining when Hanna started laughing too. Just the sound of her laughter caused any lingering tension from the boss fight and subsequent argument to all but melt away. Kirito didn't usually get attached to people, much less in just a month, but there was something special about Hanna.


	9. Mike's Guilt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So, SAO started November 6, 2022 and ended November 7, 2024 (Wow they really wanted to make it almost exactly two years). That's 24 months, remove another month since the first floor took that long, and your left with 23 months, or 100 weeks, or roughly 705 days. To get 74 floors done in that amount of time, they had to have been completing a floor at least every nine and a half days, roughly. I'm saying this, because I wanted to avoid anyone saying that their getting through the game to quickly. Of course, some floors will take less time, others more. It'll balance out, the nine days thing is just a rough guideline for me. Though I'm gonna have to keep track of how much time each floor takes. Otherwise, I get the strange feeling someone's gonna comment, 'Um, with how you've set up the timing for each floor, they would've had to clear _ floor in a day'. Or something like that. Which, don't get me wrong, I'd appreciate it if someone pointed out such an oversight of mine, but I'd rather just avoid it altogether. More Mike than Marzanna this chapter, but that's just how the story decided things would happen. Also, another skip.

December 31th, 2022- 55 days since SAO launch:

Hanna and Kirito were waiting for the boss raid meeting to begin. Since they'd conquered the first floor, the front liners had gotten much better. No one wanted it to take a month to get through each floor after all. After wasting a month on the first floor, it seemed to put all the front liners into a frenzy. They'd completed the second floor in 6 days. When they reached the third floor after rushing through the second, most people were a bit too under leveled for comfort. Technically they could fight the mobs there, but almost no one had felt comfortable with how much damage the mobs had been doing. So, due to most of the front liners grinding, it had taken 14 days. Now it was day eight of floor 4. The boss raid meeting was today, and if all went according to plan, the boss raid itself would be tomorrow.

They were both startled when a familiar voice called out to them, "Oi, Kirito, Hanna!" they both turned to look at Klein who was making his way over, a little shocked that he was here, Klein smiled as he reached them, "How are you guys doing?"

Hanna gave an unsure smile, "Uh, fine, but Klein you probably shouldn't hang around us. Our reputation- that is-"

Klein frowned, "You mean that whole 'Beater' thing? I heard. What really happened anyway? I may not have known you guys that long, but I know you guys aren't like that."

Kirito sighed, "Short version? The boss was changed from the beta. We recognized the weapon it used from other floors, and tried to warn the raid leader. After the raid, one of the players decided that we knew because we were beta testers and cheaters, ergo Beaters, and decided to loudly voice his opinion. There wasn't really anything we could do about it, so we decided to make the best of a bad situation and at least try to make people stop hating the beta testers. "

Klein's frown deepened, "That's bull man! You guys didn't do anything wrong! You were only tryin' to help."

Hanna smiled gently at Klein, "It's nice to know we've got your support. We only really have each other, Argo, and Diabel. Well, I think Agil, one of the front liners, likes us. He doesn't seem to believe we're so called 'Beaters' at any rate. However, you really shouldn't associate with us. Whatever reputation you may have will go down the drain faster than you can blink if you do."

Klein snorted, then turned his head towards a group of people not far behind him, "These are those friends I told you about on the first day. The only people whose opinions matter to me are theirs, yours, and Kirito's. Everyone else can say whatever they want about me. I don't give a damn."

Kirito looked startled, "Why would you care about our opinions?"

Klein looked a bit sheepish, "Well, I mean, I know we didn't know each other for long before we split up, but I still consider you my friends."

Hanna smiled gently at him, "Well, I can't speak for Kirito, but I think of you as a friend too Klein."

Kirito nodded in agreement, and Klein grinned at them. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a voice that was sadly familiar to Hanna and Kirito, "What the hell are you filthy beaters doing here?!"

They all turned to Kibaou with different expressions. Klein was pissed, his friends also looked irritated, which warmed Hanna's heart a bit, that they'd be mad at someone insulting her and Kirito despite not really knowing them. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kirito blank his face, pinning Kibaou with an expressionless look. She herself was annoyed, but upon noticing Diabel making his was towards Kibaou with an angry expression, an idea hit her. She flashed Diabel with a mischievous grin, causing him to pause, then turned to Kibaou, "Spiacente, non so voi?" (1)

Kibaou faltered in confusion, then shook his head, "I know you speak Japanese lady. You-"

Hanna tilted her head while cutting him off, "Naturalmente parlo giapponese. Un idiota come te, che parla a malapena la propria lingua in modo corretto, senza dubbio non sa una parola di italiano." (1)

She could see Klein, and his friends gaping at her in shock. Kirito was noticeably trying to keep himself from smiling, while behind Kibaou Diabel had covered his mouth with one of his hands, his shoulders where shaking with muffled laughed. Kibaou, on the other hand, growled angrily, "You think you're so funny don't you? Only a beater would find you funny, just so you know. You-"

Again she cut him off, "Sai, se hai intenzione di cercare di essere un malandrina, prima devi essere intelligente. Altrimenti sei solo un asino." (1)

Kibaou gave a frustrated shout, then stormed off. Diabel walked over to them and grinned at her, "Really Hanna? A moron like Kibaou can only take so much, it's rather inconsiderate of you to tax his brain like that."

Of to her left, Klein gave a startled laugh. Hanna put on a look of mock thought, "I hadn't thought about that. You don't think his brain will short circuit, do you?"

Diabel just shook his head at her, "Well, if you guys are all right over here, I should get back to my party."

Hanna smiled at him, "Ya. Thanks, by the way. I can handle Kibaou, but it's nice to know you have my back."

Diabel nodded, "Of course. See you later Hanna."

One of Klein's friends spoke up while looking at get in interest, "You know Italian too?" Hanna nodded, "Do you know any other languages too? Klein said you were American, but that you were fluent in Japanese. So if you're fluent in Italian, that's already three languages you know."

Hanna hummed, "Fluently?" he nodded, "Well, English, Japanese, and Italian obviously. I'm also fluent in Russian, German, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Portuguese amongst other things." now they were all staring at her. She shifted awkwardly, "What?"

Kirito shook his head, "Nothing really, most people don't fluently speak 9 languages. It's just startling is all."

Hanna looked away, "Well, actually I know more than 9, but I didn't feel like naming them all."

Not to mention, amongst the ones she hadn't listed were Latin, ancient Egyptian, Sumerian, and a few other languages that were dead as far as humans were concerned. Her grandparents had been alive when those languages were common though, so they'd taught her when she'd asked. Most might think it useless to know dead languages, but while technically any language could be used when casting magic, specific ones were best for certain types of spells. Latin was great for general spell casting, and quick spells, ancient Egyptian was amazing for wards, and Sumerian was fantastic for rituals. Technically it wasn't necessary to know what to were saying to cast a spell, but it helped a lot. Plus you needed to know the languages if you wanted to create a new spell, ward, or ritual. Most people made the mistake of using Latin for new wards and rituals since it was what they knew and was the most common language used for magic, but when creating new spells, wards, or rituals, one should have a firm understanding of what they want it to do, and pick the language must suitable for that type of magic. After all, even just the basic idea of 'Latin for quick spells, Egyptian for wards, and Sumerian for rituals' wasn't always correct. It was more of a guideline.

Hanna realized she'd spaced of when Kirito waved a hand in front of her face, "Huh? Oh, sorry, my mind wandered. What'd you say?"

Kirito chuckled lightly, "I noticed. The meetings about to start. I asked if you wanted to get closer to Diabel, since he's leading this meeting."

Hanna nodded, "Sure."

* * *

The boss raid meeting had finished a few hours ago. Since then, Hanna and Kirito had gotten some lunch, went to some shops to make sure they had everything they needed, and did various other preparations for tomorrow's raid. Now it was 6:38:

Hanna glanced at Kirito, "Do you what to do some grinding?"

Kirito hummed in thought, "The sun will go down soon. The mobs will be twice as ferocious then."

Hanna nodded, "Yes, but they'll also drop more xp and items. An extra level or two is always a good thing."

Kirito laughed lightly, "To true. Alright then. Where do you want to grind?"

Hanna grinned, "Let's go to the labyrinth."

Kirito jerked, "What? The labyrinth? But the mobs there are already twice as strong as regular mobs. Since it's almost night time they'll be more ferocious than usual."

Hanna nodded, "Yes, but the system always boosts drops and xp whenever mobs become stronger. Which means we'll get a _lot_ more xp and drops than usual." seeing Kirito hesitate, Hanna sighed, "Alright, if you think it's too risky we'll go somewhere else to grind. It was just an idea."

Kirito seemed to contemplate for a moment, then sighed, "No. We'll go to the labyrinth. The stronger we are, the higher our chances of surviving this twisted game. The higher the gain, the higher the risk. So it'll be worth it, but..." he gave her a worried glance, "Promise me we'll be more careful than usual. We'll heal more often, and retreat earlier at the very least."

Hanna nodded with a smile.

* * *

Kirito and Hanna had been in the labyrinth for over five hours. Currently they were sitting side by side resting in one of the safe zones. From the outside, all the labyrinths looked like solid stone, but they weren't. Sometimes they had windows, or stairs circling the outside. This particular one, had safe zones that were large balconies.

Hanna looked at her clock when she noticed a change in her peripheral. It read 11:59:01. She nudged her companion, "Kirito, look. The clock is counting the seconds until New Year's."

He blinked, then glanced down and to the right, "Ya. I'd forgotten it was New Year's Eve, to be honest."

She nodded. They silently watched the clock tick away til there were ten seconds left, then Hanna started counting down out loud, "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Happy New Year's Kirito."

Kirito smiled at her, "Happy New Year's Hanna."

Abruptly a large 'boom' and a flash of color startled them. Looking out over the rest of the floor, they realized fireworks were going off. Hanna smiled lightly, "I guess Kayaba programmed then in to celebrate New Year's."

Kirito nodded. Two dings notified them both to new messages. Sharing a glance they opened them to find a system generated message. At the top was a large banner, in bold letters it said, "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's!" Below that was a short letter, "Congratulations for surviving so far. Please select one of the following as a Christmas/New Year's gift:

250,000 col

30 large health potions

Two of every type of crystal"

Hanna glanced at Kirito, "Potions or crystals? We may not be rich, but we aren't hurting for money either, so I don't think either of us should go for that."

Kirito hummed in agreement, "Two of every type of crystal? Then there'll be teleport crystals in there, those alone make that option amazing. Healing crystals too, but at this point we don't have enough health for a potion to not be able to fully heal us. So the 30 health potions is _very_ tempting. Technically we could each pick one, then split them. One of each crystal each and 15 health potions for each of us. On the other hand, having four teleport crystals instead of two would be fantastic."

Hanna nodded, "Potions aren't overly expensive, but having 30 large healing potions would be _very_ nice." Kirito nodded, and Hanna sighed, "But, I agree having four teleport crystals would be awesome." contemplating it for a few minutes Hanna shook her head, "We can buy potions if we need them, let's just both pick the crystals."

Kirito thought for a moment, then nodded. After picking the crystals and confirming the choice, a little message appeared in front of them, "Items received:

2 Antidote crystals

2 Healing crystals

2 Teleport crystals

2 Message Record crystals

2 Screen Shot crystals"

Hanna gave the message a strange look, "Message Record and screen shot crystals?"

She glanced at Kirito who just gave her an equally perplexed shrug. She shook her head with an amused grin, then sighed in contentment as she leaned her head against Kirito's shoulder, "Today's been a good day hadn't it? We've got the next boss planned out. My idea on grinding in the labyrinth worked spectacularly, bringing then both up to level 21(2). And we secured ourselves four teleport crystals."

Kirito had been mildly startled when she leaned against him, but relaxed and leaned his own head against hers while she was talking, "Ya. We should start grinding in the labyrinth at night regularly. Four levels each is pretty crazy."

Hanna hummed in agreement, "It's not that crazy. The mobs are a lot more difficult, so we had to retreat from almost a sixth of the fights. No the results aren't crazy, but other people would probably think **we** are for trying it. Most people refuse to even go out to regular grinding spots at night. It's pretty much considered taboo to go to the labyrinth.'

Kirito nodded, "They'd either think we're completely insane, or consider the fact we survived as more evidence that we're beaters."

Hanna nodded, but couldn't find it in her to be annoyed at the mention of their beater statuses. Both the outcome of her day and leaning against Kirito made her far too content to care.

* * *

Mike sighed when he noticed Ron hurrying over to him. Next to him Hermione glanced at him in question, then followed his gaze. Upon seeing Ron, she scowled. Hermione and Ron hated each other. It was only made worst by the fact Ron had believed Mike had put his name in the goblet and abandoned him. Ron had come back around after the first task, but Mike wasn't sure he could trust him. After 23 days of working together to solve the egg, he and Hermione had gotten rather close. At first it had been awkward, then Hermione said something that made Mike realize that she wasn't a no nonsense prude and actually did have a sense of humor. After that he'd taken to joking around with her, just a tiny bit, it had made much less awkward. Then Mike had said something that apparently made Hermione realize that he wasn't stupid, and was actually very intelligent, and had stopped trying to dumb down her explanations.

Things had become rather relaxed between them after that. Mike had started to enjoy Hermione's company, and she seemed to enjoy his as well. They'd grown close at an astonishing rate after that. When the Yule ball had come around, he'd even asked Hermione to go with him. She'd accepted, after he'd clarified that he was asking as her friend, and they'd both ended up enjoying the night immensely. So two days ago, when Ron finally found him -he didn't seem to realize Mike had been avoiding him- he'd immediately questioned why he was hanging out with, in his words, 'a loser like Granger'. Mike had immediately hexed him, and told him that if he was going to insult his friends, he should just stay away. Ron had gotten angry at that, saying the he was Mike's friend, not some stuck up know it all. Mike hexed him again, then grabbed Hermione and their things and left.

Needless to say, Hermione had been surprised, and had asked him what was wrong with him and Ron, since it was well known that they were best friends. So he'd explained everything. She'd already intensely disliked Ron, but outright hated him after that. It was truly astonishing. Two months ago Ron had been his best friend, Hermione had been that annoying know it all, and he'd been an arrogant jerk. Now he couldn't stand Ron's presence, Hermione had become his friend and confidant, and he was completely unsure of who he was.

It was terrifying, that uncertainty, but at the same time it kinda excited him. He'd come to realize that the person he'd thought he was, who he'd been before the tournament started, didn't really exist. Most of that person was simply what other people made him be, based on preconceived notions they'd had of him. He'd occasionally noticed it, felt like he was boxed in, trapped, but he'd never realized what it was. He figured it was because while most of it was forced on him, a little bit of it had been brought about by how James had raised him.

On the other hand, he was also terrified of this period of self-discovery. What if he didn't like the type of person he really was? What if _Hermione_ didn't like him? Her opinion of him mattered a lot to him nowadays. He'd told Hermione everything except his fears. She'd been extremely supportive, which he couldn't have been more grateful for.

He'd only been zoned out for a few seconds, but was yanked from his musings by Ron reaching them, "Oi Mike! Where you been huh? I've been looking at over for you!"

Mike sighed again, already tired of Ron's presence, and cast a quick muffliato, "Studying the egg. With _Hermione_ , my **_friend_**."

Ron had continued to be a complete asshole to Hermione, so Mike had taken to making pointed comments about how much he liked Hermione and how she was his friend. Rather than getting the blatant hint, it just seemed to anger Ron every time he said anything. Sure enough, Ron predictably flushed with anger, "Why do you insist on hanging out with her. Not to mention, you took her of all people to the ball? What the hell man? This isn't like you at all."

Hermione bristled, "Maybe you don't know him as well as you think! If you weren't such a self-absorbed dick-"

Ron cut her off angrily, "No one asked you for your opinion! No one wants you around, go away so I can talk to Mike."

Mike was immediately furious, "Don't you talk to Hermione that way Ron! And to correct your poor assumption, _I_ want Hermione around. You need to be respectful to other people, this is the last warning I'm going to give you _Ronald_. Are we clear?"

Ron gaped at him for a minute, then glanced between Hermione and him. Abruptly his face morphed into something ugly, and Mike got a horrible feeling. Then rib rounded on Hermione angrily, "Really Granger? That desperate for Mike to pay attention to you. Then again, you were always unnaturally enthusiastic about potions."

"What the hell are you talking about Weasley?" Hermione looked livid, like she already knew what Ron was saying, but wanted clarification.

Mike had a good idea as well, but surely Ron wasn't saying-, "You know damn well what I'm talking about! You spiked Mike with love potion, you mudblood whore!"

Mike didn't realize what he was doing til Ron was sprawled on the ground and his fist hurt. Ron gaped at him, which was understandable. Most wizards used magic, and detested physical violence, so getting punched in the face by someone was practically unheard of.

Mike stepped towards Ron, still enraged, but Hermione grabbed his arm, "Mike, calm down. He isn't worth it."

Mike looked at her incredulously, "But he-"

Hermione nodded, "I know, and I appreciate you standing up for me, but Weasley really isn't worth it. He's not worth getting in trouble over."

Mike stared at her for a few moments, then closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and forced himself to unclench his fists. After a good minute of forcing himself to calm down, he open his eyes and nodded stiffly to her. Still holding his arm, she began to tug him after her. It was only then that he noticed that while there hadn't been that many people in the hallway, every single one of them was staring and whispering.

He mutely let Hermione drag him along, and was entirely unsurprised to end up in a heavily secluded table in the library. Hermione set her bag on the table and sat down, still holding his arm. He flopped into the seat next to her slumping down, and she let go of his arm. Immediately she grabbed the hand he'd punched Ron with and started examining his knuckles.

He glanced at her, "They're sore, but I don't thing I broke anything. Well, I don't think I caused _myself_ injury, can't say the same about Weasley."

Hermione hummed and finally let go of his hand. She stared at him for a few seconds, then sighed, "Mike, it's not that I don't appreciate you defending me, I do, but you'll probably get in trouble. Points docked at the very least, and likely a detention too. You shouldn't let him get to you."

Mike looked away, not wanting to see the disappointment that was undoubtedly in her eyes, "I don't regret it. Even if I lose some points and get detention, it'll still have been worth it. Talking to you like that, he deserved a lot more than that."

Hermione sighed again, then brushed his bangs away from his eyes, "I'm not mad Mike. I just don't think you should let an asshole like him get you in trouble. He's entirely unworth it. Honestly, you shouldn't even give him the time of day."

Mike nodded, looking thoughtful, "Love potion..."

Hermione tilted her head, "What about it?"

Mike looked distinctly uncomfortable, "I... used to have a twin. James told me she went missing when we were six. The thing is Marzanna, my sister, told me a week previous that James was drugging mom with love potion, Amortentia to be specific. I didn't believe her, but... Well, now I know that James isn't the person I thought he was, and now that I think about it mom started acting weird shortly after Marzanna went missing, and James was pissed. I tried not to think about that time in my life, but roughly two months later, mom left. I haven't seen her since. James said she ran off with a half blood, but..."

Hermione was quite for a minute, "You think Marzanna was telling the truth. It almost sounds like Marzanna did something to stop James, most likely destroying his stock, and he got rid of her. Marzanna destroying the amortentia would also explain James being angry, and your mom acting weird. The potion would've begun to wear off by then."

Mike nodded slowly a pained expression on his face, "That's... not the only time Marzanna tried to confide in me. I- We used to be close when we were younger, but James was always saying things about her. She was a liar, she was a thief, she was mentally unstable, the list goes on and on. At first I didn't know what to think. James had never lied to me, but I _knew_ Marzanna. Then when we were four I found her at the bottom of the stairs bruised and bloody. She said James had did it to her, that he hurt her, but I just couldn't believe it. He was my kind caring dad, wasn't he? So I chose to believe what James had been telling me about her. We weren't close anymore after that. In the two years following, before she went missing, I think we spoke less than thirty words to each other, excluding her trying to tell me about the amortentia. If I'd just listened to her, maybe she wouldn't- just maybe she..."

Hermione ran her fingers through his hair in a comforting manner, "You talk about her like she's dead."

Mike gave a humorless laugh, "Marzanna and I were twins Hermione, we had the telepathic bond all twins have. Twins can usually sense a lot about each other, their emotions, where they are, if they're ok. With practice magical twins can even speak telepathically to each other. When I woke up the day Marzanna went missing I couldn't sense her. No matter how hard I tried. Admittedly our bond was far weaker than most twins for reasons I didn't know, but I should've been able to sense her. The only time twins can't sense each other is if there's a vast distance between them, or if their dead."

Hermione paused in her petting, "Oh." She was silent for a minute, then resumed carding her fingers through his hair, "Well, you said your bond was weaker. I mean, it's possible it made your range shorter, isn't it?"

Mike sighed, "Technically, yes, but I just don't think that's the case Hermione." He fell silent for a bit, then began whispering so quietly Hermione had to lean close to hear, "It's my fault. If I'd just listened to her, believed her over James... Maybe she'd still be alive."

Hermione sighed, "Mike, don't do that. It's not your fault." Mike snorted in disbelief, "No, I'm serious. You were six, just a kid. A child is supposed to be able to believe their parents. Plus James had practically been brain washing you, and children are very susceptible to suggestion." Mike started to protest, but Hermione placed her hands on his cheeks and forced him to look at her, "Mike listen to me. Whatever happened to Marzanna it wasn't your fault. You were a child, who was only listening to his parent. If anyone is at fault here, it's James. Not you, so don't torture yourself over it."

Mike just shrugged, "I just- I wish I could apologize to them, I feel like they deserve that at least. Even if Marzanna's alive, I doubt either one of them ever want to hear from me again. So maybe it's selfish, maybe I just want to get it off my chest, to tell them that I know I was wrong, I don't know. I just..."

When Mike trailed off, Hermione stopped running her fingers through his hair, and wrapped her arms around Mike's neck, hugging him tightly. Mike appreciated Hermione trying to make him feel better, but he was pretty sure he would take this guilt to his grave.

* * *

Severus Snape was making his way to the library. When Lily had run away from James with her soulmate she'd asked Severus to watch over Mike when he started Hogwarts, and if possible, try to negate as much of Potter's influence as possible. He'd been dutifully doing just that since Mike was 11. He hadn't had much luck undermining Potter's influence, but he reported to Lily every weekend on how her son was.

So when he'd rounded a corner just in time to see Mike punch Weasley, he'd gone after him and Granger. After unfreezing from his shock anyway. Weren't Weasley and him best friends? He supposed it didn't matter, but if he was going to change friends at least he'd traded the idiot for someone who actually had a brain between their ears. Even if Granger was an annoying little girl who liked to pretend she knew everything. Lily would approve the higher intelligence at least.

When he'd finally caught up he'd paused behind a bookshelf when he heard Mike muttering about love potion. His interest peaked, he eavesdropped on the conversation. He felt a bit bad for Mike. He knew what it was like to live with crushing guilt. He'd only realized the prophecy could refer to Lily's child after he'd told Voldemort, as before that he hadn't known Lily was pregnant. Lily was back under the love potion by then, so he hadn't been able to warn her. So for more than a year after(3), Severus believed he had inadvertently killed Lily. He still tried to find a way to save her, -and her children, they may be Potter's children, but they were Lily's to- though even he believed it to be impossible. It was sheer luck that Potter and Lily had been called to an emergency meeting an hour before Voldemort struck, being forced to leave their children with Peter Pettigrew. He knew it wasn't luck that saved the children, subsequently killing Voldemort, but he didn't care. No one knew what happened to Pettigrew, most assumed that he also died in the blast of magic that happened due to the killing curse rebounding.

Shaking himself out of his memories, Severus contemplated whether or not he should help Mike, _'This tournament is good for something at least. It's changed him, for the better from what little I've seen. Lily's missed him horribly, this might be the chance for them to be together again. On one hand, he might not be as different then I thought. If that's the case, it would hurt Lily even more than the situation with Marzanna already has. As strong as she is, I don't think she could handle that. On the other hand, it could give them both closure over the whole issue, and may even ease Lily's pain over Marzanna, just a little.'_ continuing to contemplate the issue for a few minutes he eventually shook his head, _'Even if she wasn't dealing with Marzanna's mind being trapped, she'd still be furious with me if I let this opportunity slip through her fingers.'_

Decision made Severus rounded the bookshelf, and as soon as he saw the two snapped at them, "Potter! Come with me." Granger started to protest, since Mike was still clearly being haunted by his thoughts, but he cut her off, " **Now** , Potter. I will not tell you again."

Mike slipped out of Granger's hug, "It's fine 'Mione."

She bit her lip, glancing quickly between the two, before squaring her shoulders in determination, and grabbed her bag, while standing up with Mike. Her intention was clear, she wasn't going to leave Mike alone with him, given the state Mike was in. He didn't care, he just turned and started heading for his office.

* * *

Hermione was worried. If this was about Mike's fought with Weasley, then it would be Professor McGonagall dealing with it. She knew that was the only thing Mike had done recently that could get him in trouble. The only other thing this could be about was the tournament, which either McGonagall or Dumbledore should be the ones handling it. Mike was in no condition, mentally, to be dealing with the stupid tournament. She continued to worry about it, until Mike grabbed her hand. When she looked over he gave her a tired, but reassuring smile, while gently squeezing her hand. She smiled back, but mentally scolded herself. She was here to support Mike, he shouldn't be comforting her.

When they finally made it to Professor Snape's office, he immediately locked the door and cast a large number of privacy wards. After finishing that, he walked over to the fireplace. Grabbing some floo powder from a jar on the mantel, he barked a quick, "Wait here." then threw the powder in and left. Sharing a confused glance, they impatiently waited for Snape to return. Roughly ten minutes later he did. Following him was a beautiful red haired woman Hermione had never seen in her life, but still looked vaguely familiar.

The woman looked Mike over for a minute smiling in a loving manner, "Hello, Mike. It's good to see you again."

Hermione glanced at Mike only to find him stunned silent. She got her answer on the woman's identity when Mike collected himself enough to speak a moment later, "Mom?! What are- how- that is- I-"

Hermione was startled by the woman's identity, but couldn't help but feel slightly amused. Apparently Mike hadn't recovered enough to talk. Either that or he'd spontaneously forgot how to speak correctly. Lily also looked amused, then she glanced at professor Snape, "Severus, would you mind getting some tea while I conjure some chairs? I get the feeling explaining everything will take a while if this is how he reacts at simply seeing me."

Professor Snape nodded, then left out of a side door, temporarily disrupting the privacy spells, but they snapped back into place as soon as the door closed behind him. Mike's mom, what was her name, she wasn't sure if Mike had said, glanced at her, "And who might you be dear?'

"I'm Mike's friend, Hermione Granger." pausing to gently push the still shocked Mike into the newly conjured chair, she tried to remember if Mike had mentioned his mother's name. Giving up a moment later she turned back to Mike's mother, "I'm sorry, Mike mentioned you, but I don't think he ever told me your name."

Lily smiled gently, "I'm Lily Sparda. It's nice to meet you."

It was at this moment that Mike decided to rejoin the conversation, "Sparda? Then you really did run off with some guy?"

Lily frowned at Mike's wording, "Mike, sweetie, I didn't abandon you. I would've taken you with me if I could, but Potter and Dumbledore had already begun to... make you see things their way. I didn't know how you'd take everything. Especially... Well you adored them both, so I didn't know how you'd take... finding out they'd been working together to... well-"

Hermione seeing her struggle decided to speed things along, "So it's true? James had you under amortentia? And Dumbledore was involved?"

Lily seemed startled, "You know? How?'

Upon getting confirmation Mike immediately gained a look of both pain and shame, "Marzanna tried to tell me. I-I didn't believe her. I'm sorry, I should've, maybe if I had she'd-"

Lily looked alarmed at that, and immediately cut across Mike, "Mike, what did James tell you happened to Marzanna?"

Mike looked away, "All he told me was that she went missing. I don't believe that anymore, but Marzanna's my twin, Mom. Our bond may have been weaker than most, but I was always able to sense her. I haven't sensed her since I woke up the day James said she disappeared."

Lily gained a look of understanding, "She isn't dead Mike." Mike immediately jerked at that staring at her with hopeful wide eyes. Lily nodded, "It's true. We've been living together since I left. You couldn't sense her because James apparated her over to America and left her there, after she destroyed all of his amortentia."

Mike breathed a sigh of relief, "So she's ok then?"

Lily looked pained at that, "Not exactly." She shifted her gaze to Hermione, "Have you heard about the Sword Art Online incident?"

Hermione frowned, "My dad told me about it in his last letter. What does that- Oh. You mean?" Lily nodded, "Oh, I'm so sorry. That's horrible. I-"

Mike interrupted, "Hermione? What are you guys talking about?"

Hermione took a deep breath and began to explain. It took a while, since Mike was a pureblood through and through, and didn't even know what a video game was, but eventually they got the basics of the situation across. It was actually Snape, who'd come back at some point, who eventually made Mike understand. Though they all knew his example of being stuck in a pensive memory where you control what happens was very far off from what was actually happening.

After finally getting the general idea, Mike sat back to absorb the information. Eventually he looked at his mother, and made a hesitant request, "Can I visit her?"

Lily smiled, "Of course." glancing at the clock quickly, she sighed, "Not today though. It's gotten rather late. Tomorrow wouldn't be a good day either, as you'll need someone to take you and we'll all be busy. After that's Monday, so you'll have class all week, and I don't want to distract you from your studies. Next Saturday though, I'll take you, ok?"

Mike nodded, a bit put out that he'd have to wait a week, but more happy to be able to see his sister. He promised himself right then and there, if she made it back from that place, he'd do everything to make up for not believing her when they were younger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1): If this is wrong, I apologize, but I had to use Google translate. The translations should be:
> 
> Spiacente, non so voi?- Sorry, do I know you?
> 
> Naturalmente parlo giapponese. Un idiota come te, che parla a malapena la propria lingua in modo corretto, senza dubbio non sa una parola di italiano.- Of course I speak Japanese. An idiot like you, who barely speaks his own language correctly, undoubtedly doesn't know a word of Italian.
> 
> Sai, se hai intenzione di cercare di essere un malandrina, prima devi essere intelligente. Altrimenti sei solo un asino.- You know, if you're going to try to be a smartass, first you have to be smart. Otherwise you're just an ass.
> 
> (2): I looked it up, in canon around this time, Kirito was level 17 and Asuna was level 16. So it's not far off.
> 
> (3): In case anyone's confused, the prophecy was made before Harry was born, and Voldemort attacked when he was 15 months. That's all canon. Which means Voldemort didn't attack for at least sixteen months.


	10. Reunion

 January 7th, 2023- 62 days since SAO launch:

Mike was anxious. Today he'd see Marzanna for the first time since they were six, but she was stuck in that death game. He'd been waiting in Professor Snape's office for half an hour, when his mother to floo called and told him to come through.

Brushing himself off, he looked around, and found himself in some sort of study. His mother smiled and gave him a hug before leading him out, "We'll be going in a car, a Muggle form a transportation. Dante and Nero are coming with to visit Marzanna."

Mike nodded. His mother had told him everything a week ago, including the fact Marzanna and he didn't share a father. He'd been shocked, but after thinking about it for a week, it made some things make sense. Like why Potter, he refused to think of _that **man**_ as his father or by his first name, hated Marzanna. It also explained why his and Marzanna's twin bond had been so weak.

There were two men in the living room when they got there. They both had strange silverish white hair, and wore trench coats, but the taller man's coat was pure red. Whereas the shorter man's coat was black on the outside with a red inner lining. The shorter man also seemed to by younger, but not by much. His mother had told him about Marzanna's family, so he was certain the taller man was Dante, and the shorter was Nero.

They both looked him over momentarily, then Dante shifted his gaze to Lily, "Ready to go then?"

His mother nodded. Then paused momentarily, glancing at him, "This is Dante, Marzanna's dad and my husband." His assumption about the one in the red coat being Dante turned out to be correct, when he nodded in greeting. His mother continued a moment later, "And this is Nero, Vergil's son and Marzanna's cousin." Nero lifted his hand in a lazy greeting, his mother gestured to him, "Dante, Nero, this is Mike. Marzanna's brother."

Mike was thankful she hadn't felt the need to unnecessarily mention that they were half siblings, therefore bringing up Potter. Mike nodded at them in greeting, "Nice to meet you."

Dante gave him a small grin, "Likewise kiddo. Now that introductions are out of the way, let's get going."

On the way there Mike's head started to hurt, and it slowly got worse. By the time they were at the hospital, his head felt like someone was hitting it with continuous blasting curses, but he ignored it. He wasn't going to let a headache stop him from seeing Marzanna, no matter how bad. The pain in his head continued to grow. When they reached Marzanna's hospital room, Dante and Nero went in first. As he stepped through the door the pain sharply spiked, causing him to lose his balance and grab the door frame while black spots momentarily invaded his vision.

A moment later he noticed his mother gripping his arm to steady him. Dante and Nero had also noticed, and all three of them were looking at him in concern. His mother gently guided him to a chair in the room, but the movement only seemed to worsen his headache. Once he was sitting, his mother bent down to be eye level, "You ok sweetie?"

Mike nodded, but immediately regretted it, as the black spots came back, "Migraine. I'm fine."

Nero raised an eyebrow, "A migraine bad enough to make you lose your balance?"

Mike shrugged, "It started on our way here, then progressively got worse."

Lily frowned for a few minutes, "It almost sounds like-" she cut off as her eyes widened, "Shit."

Dante glanced at her, "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, "It must have slipped my mind since Mike and Marzanna didn't seem to be negatively affected, but it's the twin bond. I don't know about demonic and angelic twins, but magical twins have a telepathic bond, and their magic is intertwined. Due to their magic being intertwined, separating twins usually causes them great pain. The further the distance, the greater the pain. However, the weakness of their bond must have negated the usual pain from being separated. Now however, their magic and the telepathic portion of their bond, in other words, their minds, are trying to resynchronize, but they've been separated for _eight **years**_. The strain is undoubtedly immense."

Nero glanced between Mike and Marzanna in worry, "Is there anything we can do to help? Or should we not interfere."

Lily shook her head, "There's nothing we _can_ do. It's completely between them. Mike." he forced himself to focus on his mother through the pain, "Physical contact will undoubtedly make it hurt even more, but it'll also speed up the process. Grab Marzanna's hand."

Mike blinked a few times before he processed what she'd said. Then nodded. Even the small act of shifting closer and reaching for Marzanna made the pain nearly double, but Mike forced himself to grab her hand. He'd barely brushed her hand when darkness closed in, and he lost consciousness.

Color exploded around him as scenes flashed before his eyes. Some of them stuck out. She was six. Potter had dumped her in some random city in America hours ago, and night was falling. She wandered around until she found an alley, then pulled her mother's enchanted trunk from inside her arm. Opening it to the living compartment, she activated the invisibility enchantment, climbed inside, and closed the lid. The thought crossed her mind that at least she had somewhere safe to sleep.

* * *

She'd been captured by strange people days ago. Now there was some weirdo wearing a white coat examining her while talking into a small metal device. He was talking about her in fact. He mentioned someone named Nero, and something called a devil bringer. Apparently her arm was a devil bringer like this Nero person's.

* * *

The weirdo in a white coat, was experimenting on her. It hurts. It _hurts_ so **_much_**. When he finally stopped, he started talking into that metal device again. He talked about her demonic and angelic abilities, but that couldn't be right. She'd read about Nephilim in Potter's library once. They were just myths weren't they? And even if they had been real, weren't they supposed to be extinct? Plus her mother was definitely human. Then again, she **had** always healed incredibly fast, and there was her arm... That line of thought was ended abruptly. The weirdo had finished talking, and was hurting her again.

* * *

She was moved to a different facility. A day later that forced her to be part of some sort of ritual. It was painful. After the ritual she was taken somewhere strange. She found out it was hell. She also found her supposedly dead uncle and grandparents. They escaped, and ran into her father. He took them home after dealing with the Hell Gate, and redoing the seal the ritual she'd been forced to participate in broke.

* * *

Her grandpa forged a soul bound blade for her. Its current forms were Shuraba- a falcata claw combination, Osiris- a large but lightweight scythe, and Arbiter- a large heavy axe. It'd get more forms later. She started her training that very day.

* * *

She was getting a familiar or familiars. She was carefully combing a large warehouse, looking for her familiar. She didn't find her til she got to the very back. Her poor familiar had a muzzle and a blindfold on its snake eyes. She introduced herself as Aite. Her dad and Uncle Vergil came back a few minutes later. Undoubtedly drawn by the flash of light from the familiar bond. The employee serving them freaked out when he saw Aite, then called her an abomination. Righteous fury coursed through her, and she snapped at the man. The man explained that Aite was a Nandu/Basilisk hybrid. She was also apparently a Parselmouth. She left for a few moments to go to the half of the warehouse with the light creatures. Hedwig bonded to her immediately.

* * *

They met up with mama. She and dad talked for a bit. Mama and dad were soulmates. Mama was going to divorce Potter and move in with them. She'd never been happier. The only way it could be better was if Mike was there too.

* * *

She'd been living with her dad for two months now. She was reading in the living room. Her dad was being a bit loud. She only put up with it for a while, "Ssh. You hear that?"

Her dad looked at her, then cocked his head as he listened intently. After a moment of not hearing anything he shook his head, "No. What is it?"

She gave her dad an annoyed look, "The symphony of silence. You're interrupting it."

Her dad made an offended noise. Nero snickered from the other couch, and Vergil grinned next to him.

* * *

She was starting non-magical school. She quickly found out first grade was boring. She was horrified to discover what preppy girls were. She was even more horrified that two of the ones in her class adored her for unfathomable reasons. She ran out the door as soon as class was released. Her dad and Nero had come to pick her up. She jumped on her dad's arm and wrapped her arms and legs around it. She didn't even let go when he lifted it to be parallel to the ground, and she slid til she was dangling like a sloth.

Her dad gave her a bemused look, "What are doing."

Rather than answer, she tilted her head back til she was looking at him and whispered in horror, "Save me."

Nero tilted his head, "From what 'Zanna?"

She was about to reply when she heard the two girls yell her name. She yelped, and scrambled up til she had a knee on one of her dad's shoulders, a hand on the other, and her other hand on his head, then looked towards the girls, "Them! I swear they're worse than demons! And they wouldn't leave me alone _all **day**_!"

Nero had the audacity to laugh at her. She glared murder at him. He subsided into snickers. The girls ran up to them. Nero and her dad later told her she puffed up and hissed like a cat. Nero stopped snickering within a minute of the girls talking, giving her a pained sympathetic look. Her dad decided it was time to leave less than a minute later, with a shudder of horror.

As they were heading to the car he shifted her so she was sitting on her shoulders, then glanced up at her, "Kiddo? Don't ever become like that. They really _are_ worse than demons."

She kicked him as hard as she could for even suggesting such a thing.

* * *

She was laying with her head in aunt Lady's lap. Lady liked to tell her about the places she'd been. She liked hearing about those places. They sometimes talked all day long.

* * *

She was sitting with her grandpa, as he was helping train her. They weren't doing combat training right that moment. Instead Sparda was teaching her how to meditate. She frowned in confusion, "Why do I have to learn this grandpa? I don't see how this'll help me fight better."

Sparda just smiled patiently, "We devils are notorious for our tempers. You must learn to control your rage, and never allow _it_ to control **you**. Losing yourself to fury in battle is a quick path to death."

She sighed. Meditation seemed boring, but if grandpa said it was necessary then she'd do it.

* * *

Uncle Vergil and her mother were the primary ones who taught her magic, though her grandparents did too. Today she was with Vergil as he calmly explained dark spells, and what made them different than light spells, other than being cast with dark magic, which was redundant. Uncle Vergil's calm smooth voice was soothing. It was a good thing she always found the topics Uncle Vergil picked out fascinating, otherwise she might fall asleep.

* * *

It was her seventh birthday. After presents and cake her dad put a case on the table in front of her. She knew what was in it. Her dad had told her multiple times that she wasn't getting her guns til she turned seven. Sure enough, when she opened it two beautiful guns were inside. Engraved on their sides were their names. 'Symphony' and 'Silence'. She shared an amused grin with Nero.

* * *

She was sitting at the kitchen table while Kyrie cooked lunch. Kyrie would often hum or sing as she cooked. She liked listening to her sing, so she often wandered into the kitchen when Kyrie was cooking. Sometimes Kyrie just talked to her about anything and everything. That was nice too.

* * *

She was seven, and her dad was showing her some of the demonic weapons he'd collected over the years. She immediately felt a pull to the briefcase that he called Pandora's Box. Her dad wouldn't let her have it. She wouldn't take no for an answer. She clung to it with her arms and legs like a deranged monkey. When Dante realized he wasn't going to pry her off of it he went to Vergil for help.

Vergil took one look at her clinging to it and sighed, "Pandora's box was created by the last Nephilim queen Pandora at the end of the Nephilim/Demon war. Pandora had gone insane from so many of her people being slaughtered, so she attempted to create a weapon of mass destruction with 666 souls. 333 demon souls, and 333 angel souls. The box is semi sentient and calls to both females and Nephilim. Female Nephilim are obviously particularly affected. The box sometimes picks a female Nephilim it finds worthy and creates a bond with them. At that point it stops calling to other females and Nephilim, and focuses all its attention to the one it bonded to. The normal call is just a faint urge to open the box. The bonded call is like a sirens song demanding you possess the box."

Dante frowned, "I don't like the sound of that. What kinda bond are we talking about?"

Vergil shrugs, "A parasitic bond." at Dante's alarmed looked he quickly explained, "It won't hurt her. It'll just constantly drain demonic and angelic energy from her. Nowhere near enough to cause her problems though. Even if you pry her off of it, she not going to drop the issue til Pandora belongs to her."

Dante looked at Marzanna in thought. She leveled her best puppy dog eyes at him. He hesitated. She made her eyes tear up. He wavered. She pushed her bottom lip out a tiny bit and made it tremble like she was about to cry. She added a sniffle for good measure. He broke.

"Fine! But! Only after your ten." He gave her a stern look.

She scowled.

* * *

She was cuddling with aunt Kat, who was carding her fingers through her hair. Aunt Kat liked to do that. She liked it too. It felt nice. She listened as Kat told her stories about the past, mostly about her dad, like she usually did.

* * *

She was eight, and demons were attacking their house. She felt a pull. She didn't even realize what she was doing til she'd tackled her dad and grabbed Pandora while yelling, "Mine!"

Dante gaped at her from his spot on the floor. Nero laughed at him.

* * *

She and Nero were experimenting with their devil bringers. They eventually learned how to share abilities from absorbed objects, and how to pull absorbed objects from each other's arms. It was kinda cool. Only the sharing ability was really useful though. Some experimenting with dad and Vergil in devil trigger made it clear that the devil bringer's abilities of absorption and a phantom arm **were** somehow made from the demonic overload that created the devil bringer. Eventually she and Nero figured out how to share absorbed abilities with their devil bringers. Dante and Vergil couldn't receive abilities without the devil bringer, but they could share abilities they got. Dante had given her and Nero the quick silver ability when they figured that out. Almost immediately she began abusing the power by using it to read more books without being interrupted.

* * *

She was eight when she met Severus Snape. She liked his cynical sarcasm. He liked her intelligence, and enthusiasm for potions and his potion experiments. She finds his research fascinating, and the potions he's trying to make extremely beneficial. She's saddened when gee tells her that he's having issues getting ingredients he needs for them. So she talks to Aite and Hedwig, then informs him that her familiars would be willing to donate some Basilisk venom, Basilisk blood, Nandu fur, Nandu blood, Strix feathers, and Strix blood amongst other things for his research. He adores her after that. She even starts going over to his house some weekends, and he lets her help with the safer parts of his experiments.

* * *

It was her tenth birthday. The minute she woke up, she ran to her parents' bedroom and jumped on her dad yelling, "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!"

Dante stared at her incredulously. Lily laughed. Dante looked at the clock and scowled, "It's seven in the morning kiddo."

She pouts, "So? It's my birthday. You said I could have Pandora on my tenth birthday!"

He makes her leave after promising to give her Pandora later. She retaliates by stroking Pandora and calling it her precious when he finally does. The pinched look me makes has everyone laughing at him.

* * *

She was ten. She was finally going on her first hunt with her dad. She didn't even care that her dad wouldn't let her go on hunts having to do with great demons just yet. Nor was she disappointed later either, even though she didn't get to do anything. Even if it was just a swarm of minor demons, her dad had a thing for being stylish and dramatic, so he'd looked completely awesome and badass the whole time he was fighting.

* * *

She was sitting on the roof with Aunt Trish, who was telling her about all sorts of things. Demons, magic, the past. Aunt Trish was a fountain of information, and when it came to her, she liked to share. Plus she liked hanging out with her. She liked spending time with everyone in her family.

* * *

She was eleven, and had finally started her magical schooling. She'd been taught by her grandparents, mother, and Vergil for years, but she'd been excited to start actual school. She was disappointed. Studying so diligently had the downside that she already knew everything they were being taught. Not to mention once of the older students was apparently related to a previous client of her father's, and had told everyone about her heritage. Now everyone was either scared of her, or hated her.

* * *

She was listening intently to her mom and Severus discussing potions, only interrupting occasionally to ask questions, which they were always happy to answer. She hadn't inherited her mom's brilliance for the subject, but sometimes they just needed fresh eyes on a potion one of them was working on. So sometimes she ended up asking a question that put them in a frenzy. They'd both taken to keeping notebooks on hand for these discussions, so they could take notes if inspiration struck.

* * *

She'd been in her magical school for three months. Nero had noticed something was wrong. He dragged get up to his and Kyrie's room, and they rocked out, and played video games til she wanted to talk. She told him about the fear and hatred she revived from the other students. He calmly listened to her vent, offering his opinion or advice occasionally. When she was done they went back to hanging out. She hung out with Nero all the time, but after hearing about her school troubles, he made a point to spend at least an hour with her **every day** after school. The only time he didn't was when he was gone on a job. He was more like an older brother to her than a cousin.

* * *

She was twelve, and she was on her third great demon hunt with Nero. It was going horribly. Nero had gotten hit hard, throwing him down a large hallway, and had slammed through multiple pillars on his way, causing the way back into the room to collapse. This left her alone with the demon. It had a ridiculous amount of thin sharp tentacle like things, and kept trying to stab her with them. Eventually it managed to do just that. She was impaled through the lungs three times, the heart once, her femoral artery was torn, and there were at least ten other places she was stabbed. It's horribly _painful_. It only got worse when the demon started to pull them out. She coughed up blood as black began to close in. She shook her head, she couldn't afford to pass out now. Without Nero here, the demon would undoubtedly take the opportunity to kill a descendant of Sparda. Was she dying? That thought terrified her. Demonic energy, similar to her devil bringer, began to pulse through her, slowly at first, but quickly picking up speed. That was even more painful even more than her wounds. With a scream of pain and fury, the energy reached its peak and exploded out. She didn't remember much that followed, but she killed the demon. When Nero made it back a few minutes later, she found out that she'd awoken her devil trigger. Her dad was upset about how the hunt went, but wasn't angry at Nero. He knew it wasn't his fault. He was still even more over protective than usual for the next three months.

* * *

She was fourteen, and her log out button was missing. She met a couple players and talked to them about it with them. Their buttons were missing as well. They were teleported to the plaza for a system announcement. Kayaba explained the new rules to his twisted game. Then he gave them all mirrors. She was staring into the one he'd given her in confusion. All she saw was a female avatar staring back. Then a blueish-white light engulfed her. She felt strange for a few seconds, a tingly fuzzy feeling going through her whole body. A moment later the light cleared and she could see the mirror again. Except now Marzanna's face was staring back at her. Alarm and understanding washed through her, and she looked to Klein and Kirito. They'd been replaced by people who were both complete strangers and yet still Klein and Kirito. Klein thought she was good looking. Personally she thought Kirito was kinda cute, but didn't let the thought distract her.

* * *

She was arguing with Kirito about Cooper. Who was sitting nervously on the ground near them. He didn't dare try to leave with her falcata so close to his throat. She wasn't happy when Kirito gave Cooper the «Little Nepent Ovule». Her mood lifted a bit when they managed to get their hands on two more. She was fondly exasperated when Kirito suggested they give the second away. She told Kirito to let her carry it since Kirito was almost at his weight limit. Once it was in her inventory she bluntly told Kirito he wasn't getting the second sword back until he needed it. Kirito's pout was kinda cute.

* * *

She was furious with Kirito for making everyone hate him, and subsequently becoming the first 'Beater'. They argued for a bit. She joked around to lighten the mood afterwards. Kirito's laugh made her cheeks heat up. She gave into the urge and laughed with Kirito. She felt a lot better than she had a few minutes previous.

* * *

Klein and his friends joined the front liners. Kibaou was an asshole. She fucked with Kibaou's head a bit. She celebrated New Year's with Kirito. She was content, maybe even happy.

* * *

The rush of images, no memories, finally stopped. Mike sighed in relief. The room he found himself in was as strange as it was massive, which was saying something since though he defiantly couldn't see the ends of it, he got the distinct feeling it was larger than even the world cup quidditch pitch had been. There were enormous multistory bookshelves all over the place. Near him was a table that almost looked like an altar, on it were Shuraba, Osiris, and Arbiter. On a smaller table in front of them were Symphony and Silence. There were unmanned stalls with all sorts of weird trinkets on display, along with that were also crystals, vials of what looked like potions, and what looked like either bulky strange clothing or extremely light armor. There was also a metallic monolith in the distance that was bigger than even Hogwarts. All in all, looked completely chaotic, but he got the distinct feeling there was a method to the madness.

In the distance to his right, he saw what looked like a badly rundown quidditch pitch, but even as he watched it began to slowly mend itself. Looking to his left, he saw an area a bit removed from the things surrounding it. Everything in it looked ghostly, and transparent, like it was barely there. Scattered around in an orderly fashion were multiple computers, he only knew what they were from Marzanna's memories. Prominently displayed on a tarnished, run down pedestal was a black coat that was obviously made of cloth, but gave him the impression of being impenetrable, and was as much imprisonment as it was freedom. However, most of the area was taken up by an absolutely **_massive_** bed, with an equally large sheer oasis bed canopy(1). Both the bedding, and canopy were black.

He was pulled from his examination from a voice behind him, "Mike?!"

Whirling around he came face to face with Marzanna standing between two bookshelves. She was a few feet from him, but he crossed that distance in an instant, and grabbed Marzanna in a bone crushing hug. She didn't seem bothered at all, instead returning it immediately. He took a deep shuddering breath. She really was alive. He hadn't really believed it, even when he'd seen her in her hospital room, but it was true. Dropping his head he buried his face in her neck, "Marzanna, I-"

She cut him off before he could get further than that, "Ssh. I know, I know. I forgive you. Not your fault anyway, never blamed you. I missed you."

He gave another shuddering breath, "I missed you too. So much. So **very** much."

For a few minutes they just clung to each other. Then Mike forced himself to take a deep breath, and slowly pulled away. He glanced around momentarily, "Do you know where we are? I don't."

Marzanna smiled lightly, "Doesn't it seem familiar?" looking around again he nodded slowly, and her smile got bigger, "It should. This is my mindscape."

That startled Mike, "Oh. Well that explains its familiarity. Even if I've never been _in_ your mind, our bond does link our minds together." Marzanna nodded, he grinned at her, "Soooooo..."

"So." He knew Marzanna knew what he was asking about, but apparently she wasn't going to make it easy on him, if the sharp way she replied was any indication.

He just grinned even more, "Kirito, huh?"

That's as far as he got before she punched him in the shoulder, while all but hissing, "Shut up!" His grin didn't waver in the slightest, and he rubbed where she punched him. She glared at him then smirked, and slyly continued, "You and that Hermione girl are getting awfully close rather quickly aren't you?"

He couldn't stop himself from flushing at that, and was immediately given a victorious smirk. He glared, "Well played, sister mine, well played."

She grinned, "I know. I'm awesome like that." A moment later she glanced away, then sighed, "I gotta get back, and you probably should too. Could you tell everyone I love them, I miss them, and that I'm fine?" she hesitated a moment, "And could you tell Remus and Sirius to? For those two could you also tell them I'm happy with my family, but I miss them terribly?"

He sighed, "Of course you silly girl. I'll miss you, the rest of your family already does, so get through that twisted game as quickly as you can, ok?"

She nodded, "Of course. I'll miss you too. You better be careful in that stupid tournament, or I'll kick your ass, _and_ never forgive you. Oh, and the egg is Mermish. You need to listen to it underwater. It also means the second task probably has something to do _with_ water. I have a book on water related spells in my devil bringer. Ask Nero to retrieve it, he'll know what I'm talking about."

He snorted in amusement, now well aware how easily she could kick his ass, then nodded. Moments later, the world around him rapidly faded to black.

* * *

Hanna had been having a late breakfast with Kirito when her head started to hurt. As it progressively got worse Kirito noticed something was wrong, "What's the matter?"

She frowned heavily, "Headache."

Kirito grew alarmed at that, "What? But that should be impossible here." She just shrugged in response. He stared at her in worry for a few minutes, then grabbed her hand and started pulling her along, "You should lie down. Maybe it'll help."

She wasn't resisting, she didn't want to, nor did she want the system city crime prevention code to think Kirito was harassing her, "If I'm feeling pain, then theirs probably something wrong in the real world. If that's the case, I don't think lying down will help. It-"

Seeing Kirito's jaw tense she cut off in realization, _'He already knows that. He's doesn't want to feel useless when he knows I'm in pain.'_

Later she'd blame the headache impairing her judgement on why she made that particular joke, "If you're just trying to get me into bed, I'm afraid I consider myself too young for that sort of thing." Kirito choked and almost tripped, and she blinked, "Sorry, I joke when people around me are tense. This headache is impairing my judgement on what is appropriate."

That managed to draw a laugh out of him, and he glanced at her his cheeks more than a bit flushed, "Ya, I can see that."

They made it back to the inn in silence after that, and it continued to get worse the entire way. By the time she was lying on the bed, with Kirito sitting at the table near her, her head felt like someone was using a jackhammer on it. Awhile later, she groaned, when abruptly the pain spiked heavily. Kirito started to stand up with a worried look, but she shook her head at him. He reluctantly sat back down. It was only a minute or two when it doubled, and she passed out.

She was immediately assaulted by a plethora of images. He was six. He woke up, and immediately noticed something was wrong, _wrong_ , **_wrong_**. It only took him a minute to place it. He can't sense Marzanna. **_He can't sense Marzanna_**. Throwing his covers off he ran across out of his room and across the hall to Marzanna's. Rushing in without bothering to knock, he found her room empty. Immediately turning around, he ran to his dad's study. Bursting through the door made his already irate dad mad at him. He didn't care, he needed to know where his little sister was. He demanded an answer from his dad. He was told she went missing last night and to get out, as he was already mad, and didn't need to deal with him right now. He left in a daze, wandering back to his room. Sitting in his bed it suddenly him. Marzanna was gone, and he couldn't sense her. The only time twins can't sense one another is if they're a great distance away or... dead. She couldn't be though! There was no way his little sister was **dead**! She'd been just fine yesterday when... When she told him dad was feeding mom love potion. And he hadn't believed her. Now she was gone, and it was _all_ **his fault**! Pulling his knees to his chest and hugging them, he buried his face in his knees and cried.

* * *

He hadn't seen his mother all day, and it was dinner time. He asked his dad. His dad refused to answer at first, clearly furious, but he persisted. Dad finally told him. He said a half breed had fed her some love potion and she ran away with him under its influence. Dad hadn't been able to track her down.

* * *

It was his seventh birthday. There were dozens of people, and tons of presents, and lots of amazing games. He didn't care. This should've been his sister's seventh birthday too, but now she was **gone** , and his mother had been forced to run off with some sicko, who force fed her love potion. He didn't want any of these people here. The only people he wanted to be around right now, were his dad, Remus, Sirius, and Dumbledore. He'd told his dad that, but he'd insisted on a big party. He only stuck around for cake and presents. Then he slipped away to the kitchen. Remus and Sirius found him a few minutes later. They didn't make him go back like his dad would if he found him. They understood why he wanted to be alone. They loved Marzanna too after all. They missed her almost as much as he did.

* * *

He was eight when he met Ron. He was kinda dumb, but Mike thought he was kinda funny. He hadn't found anything funny since Marzanna disappeared. Ron didn't like people who were a lot smarter than him. Mike pretended to be less intelligent then he was to keep the only person who'd made him laugh in two years around.

* * *

He was eleven, and was finally, _finally_ , going to Hogwarts to learn magic. He wasn't disappointed. The magic they were leaving was basic, but interesting. Dean and Seamus were kinda funny too. Neville was shy, but nice. The twins, who he hadn't had a chance to meet before since Ron was always staying at his house, were outright hilarious, and they were smart. Even better, they didn't mind that Mike was smarter, so he didn't have to hide his intelligence around them. He thought he might be able to get along with Hermione since she was smart too, but she turned out to be a no nonsense prude.

* * *

The philosophers stone was going to be stolen, and McGonagall didn't believe them. If she wasn't going to do anything, he would. Neville was still awake in the common room when they tried to sneak out. They ended up taking him with them after being forced to explain. There was a harp making Fluffy sleep. Neville immediately recognized the devil's snare when they jumped down the trap door. He lit it on fire. He flew on the broom to catch the key. Ron played them across the chess bored, sacrificing himself in the process. He left Neville with Ron. He figured out the riddle and drank the correct potion. He was surprised it was Quirrell instead of Snape. Quirrell made him look into the mirror. He almost broke down crying when he saw his mother and Marzanna standing with his reflection. Marzanna smiled in a secretive manner at him. She held up a red stone, then put it in his reflections pocket, while putting her finger to her lips. He lied to Quirrell. Quirrell shoved him out of the way, and he tried to leave. A voice told Quirrell he was lying. Quirrell bound him with a spell. Quirrell had Voldemort on the back of his head. Voldemort tried to convince him to join him. He refused. Voldemort tried to kill him. He almost succeeded. Dumbledore arrived. He passed out.

* * *

He hasn't been receiving his mail for some reason. It's fine. The only people he wanted to write were Neville, Seamus, and Dean. He floos them to inform them of the issue. They're relieved he wasn't ignoring their letters.

* * *

A house elf visits him. He introduces himself as Dobby. He finds out Dobby has been stealing his mail. He demands he give him back his letters. Dobby says he will only give then back if he doesn't go back to Hogwarts. He refuses. Dobby tries to get him in trouble. It doesn't work. His dad doesn't care about those vases.

* * *

He and Ron floo to the platform as usual. The twins set off some of their pranks. It's hilarious.

* * *

He's being stalked by a first year, Colin Creevey. He **is** pretty awesome. So he supposes he can't blame the kid.

* * *

He and Ron were invited to Nick's death day party. The heedless hunt shows up and ruins it, humiliating Nick in the process. On the way back to their dorms he hears a voice. They followed it. They found Mrs. Norris. Some people think he's Slytherins heir.

* * *

He breaks his arm during quidditch, when a bludger goes rouge and targets only him. Lockhart vanishes the bone. He officially hates Lockhart. Colin Creevey gets brought into the infirmity petrified that night.

* * *

He goes to the dueling club, and immediately regrets it when he realizes Lockhart's running in. Lockhart gets his ass kicked by Snape. It's the first, and probably last, time he's ever rooted for Snape. Lockhart makes him duel Malfoy. Malfoy summons a snake. The idiot Lockhart tries to banish the snake, but ends up agitating it instead. The snake tries to attack a student. He instinctively tells it to stop. It does, but the other students are looking at **him** in fear now. He leaves. Ron tells him he spoke Parseltongue. The meaning is not lost on him. By the next day, almost the entire school believes he's the heir.

* * *

Someone threw a diary at Moaning Myrtle. It turns out to be a diary belonging to one T. M. Riddle. Later, it introduces itself as Tom, and tells him Hagrid is the heir. He doesn't believe it one bit. It's later stolen. He doesn't care. He has no use for a lying diary.

* * *

He finds Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nick. He's furious. He likes Nick.

* * *

Hermione Granger and Penelope Clearwater get petrified. Not long after, Hagrid gets arrested and Dumbledore is forced to leave the school. As Hagrid is leaving he tells them to follow the spiders. When they do later, they meet Aragog, an acromantula. He tells them a bit about the chamber being opened 50 years previous. Then he tries to feed them to his children. He almost succeeds, but Firenze, who he has befriended in his many walks through the forest, saves them.

* * *

Ginny gets kidnapped. They try to tell Lockhart at Ron's suggestion, against his own idea of going to a different, _competent_ teacher. Lockhart is a fraud, just like he thought. There isn't enough time left to go get another teacher. _Ginny_ doesn't have enough time. They go to where he'd figured out where the chamber was. Myrtle's story makes him realize the monster in a Basilisk. It makes him nervous, but he won't abandon Ginny. He shoves Lockhart down the opening, then listens for his landing to see if the drop is safe. Upon determining it is, he casts a strong cleaning charm and slides down. They make Lockhart go ahead of them. He faints when he sees the snake skin, then lunges for Ron's wand when he gets close. He tries to cast stupify. It backfires horribly causing a cave in, and separating him from Ron. After finding out if Ron is ok, he continues. A while later, he reaches a large door with snakes on the front. It opens to a Parseltongue command. He runs to Ginny when he sees her, but stupidly sets his wand down. Tom Riddle takes his wand. Tom turns out to be a preserved version of Voldemort's memories. He summons the Basilisk. Fawkes arrives with the sorting hat, then blinds the Basilisk. The Basilisk chases him for a while. He eventually ends up tripping while trying to get away, as he's crawling backwards his hand brushes the hat. He glances back at it, and sees something metallic materialize, so he grabs it, and holds it towards the lunging Basilisk. It turns out to be a sword, which the Basilisk impales itself on. It shoves a fang through his arm in the process, the fang breaks, and he is dying. Tom gloats. Fawkes saves his life with his tears, then brings him the diary. He stabs it with the fang, and it's the one who dies instead.

* * *

Malfoy Sr. shows up while he's telling Dumbledore what happened. Dobby apparently belongs to him. He tricks Malfoy into releasing Dobby. Dobby bonds himself to Mike.

* * *

His third year is relatively quiet, but exciting now that he can visit Hogsmead. He loves Honeydukes, and the three broomsticks like the other students. Unlike the other students, he also enjoys The Quill, a bookstore in the village. He often sneaks away from Ron to go there.

* * *

His dad gets tickets for them and the Weasley boys for the world cup. It's awesome, until death eaters attack. Then his dad makes him flee into the woods with Ron. Someone summons the dark mark near them, and they almost get attacked by ministry officials. They retrieve his wand and a house elf. He gets accused of summoning the mark, til they realize who it is they're accusing. Then the blame shifts to the house elf. That idea gets thrown out the window too. The house elf gets sacked anyway, just for inadvertently associating her master with dark magic. He feels bad for her. She was only trying to not get trampled in the attack. She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

* * *

He's fourteen and starting his fourth year. He's angry when Dumbledore announces that quidditch is cancelled for the year, but his anger is quickly forgotten when Dumbledore explains about the triwizard tournament. He's disappointed when the age limit is announced, but still looks forward to watching the tournament.

* * *

The other schools arrive in showy ways. Then the Goblet of Fire is brought out. The next day, on Halloween, the champions are announced. He's surprised when his name comes out, but excited at the opportunity. He's questioned about entering his name. In the end it's decided he had to compete no matter what, since the magical contract will strip him of his magic if he doesn't.

* * *

Later that night Ron confronts him. He tells Ron he didn't enter his name. Ron doesn't believe him. His betrayal hurts more than he ever thought it would.

* * *

Hagrid tips him off about the dragons. He figures the other champions know, even though they're not supposed to, and tells Cedric so it's fair. He wants to win, but he's not going to do it unfairly.

* * *

He draws the Hungarian Horntail with a four around its neck from the bag. While he's waiting for his turn he fingers his wand nervously. His confidence had dropped significantly since Hagrid showed him the dragons. When he's finally called he takes a calming breath, and goes out to face the Horntail. He goes through with the plan he came up with, and summons his broom. As he's trying to lure the dragon up high enough so he can dive for the egg, the chain restricting her snaps. A wild chase follows. He almost gets eaten twice, burned to a crisp six times, and nearly falls off Hogwarts after being forced to temporarily crash land. Circling back to the arena, he swoops in and grabs the egg, as he's unsure if failing to complete a task will strip him of his magic. When the dragon catches up seconds later, the dragon tamers subdue her.

* * *

He's studying the egg with Hermione, when he makes a joke about the egg sounding like Ron singing. Not having expected her to laugh, it startles him when she does. He thinks her laugh is beautiful.

* * *

He asks Hermione to the Yule ball. She hesitates, and the rejection hurts. He tells her he wants to go as friends. She happily accepts. When the ball comes around, they have a blast together. He almost forgets that he asked to go as friends. Almost.

* * *

Ron, Hermione, and he were arguing again. He didn't really care until Ron said Hermione love potioned him, and called her a mudblood whore. In fury, he punched Ron as hard as he could. He thought he felt something brake. It wasn't his hand. Hermione made him calm down, then took him to the library. He ended up telling her about Marzanna and his mother. Her fingers running through his hair are soothing. Then Snape came along and took them to his office. He was incredibly shocked to see his mother. The longer she explained the more astonished he became.

* * *

Two days after punching Ron, he was cornered by the twins. They were mad he'd punched their little brother, though that anger faded after he told them _why_ he punched Ron, and proved he was telling the truth by swearing a magical oath. Normally if Ron did something they didn't like, they just pranked him, but Ron calling someone a mudblood whore was serious to the Weasleys, who were Muggle and muggleborn supporters. So they told their mother. She didn't send a howler, like she usually did when she was displeased with her children. She and came to the school to deal with it personally. The Weasleys made Ron apologize to both him and Hermione, then apologized themselves. Of course, Mike got in trouble for punching Ron, but it was nowhere near as bad as Ron's punishment. The twins later told him that their mother said that Ron was grounded for the entire summer when school ended. Ron has been avoiding him since. He's completely fine with this development.

* * *

Marzanna blinked as the memories faded, and she found herself in her mindscape. She stared at her feet for a few minutes. Though almost all of that was important, she couldn't help but focus on one thing. That crushing guilt and endless sorrow Mike felt for her. She shook herself from thinking about it a few moments later, when she did she realized she could sense someone in her mind.

Making her way to the intruder, she was surprised at who it was, "Mike?!"

He whirled around to face her, and gaped for a moment, then suddenly he was hugging her incredibly tightly for a human. She happily returned the hug.

Mike took a shuddering breath, then a moment later buried his face in her neck, "Marzanna, I-"

She remembers that crushing guilt, and knows he's trying to apologize. She'd never blamed him though, so she doesn't want to hear it, "Ssh. I know, I know. I forgive you. Not your fault anyway, never blamed you. I missed you."

He let out another shuddering breath, "I missed you too. So much. So **very** much."

They clung to each other for a few minutes, then Mike took a deep breath, and slowly pulled back. He glanced around for a moment, then looked back at her, "Do you know where we are? I don't."

She smiled at him, "Doesn't it seem familiar?" looking sound again he nodded slowly, and her smile got bigger, "It should. This is my mindscape."

He jerked in obvious shock, "Oh. Well that explains its familiarity. Even if I've never been _in_ your mind, our bond does link our minds together." she nodded, then he grinned at her, "Soooooo..."

Considering what Marzanna just saw, she's certain he saw something similar about her. So Marzanna knew exactly what he wanted to know, but she wasn't going to tell him anything if she could help it. As such it was no surprise her tone was sharp, "So."

Mike continued to grin like a cat that got the canary, "Kirito, huh?"

She punched him in the shoulder while hissing at him to shut up. Even as he rubbed his arm his grin didn't budge. She glared, before remembering a certain brunette, then smirked at him while slyly asking, "You and that Hermione girl are getting awfully close rather quickly aren't you?"

Her efforts were rewarded with blush, and she immediately flashed a victorious smirk. He glared at her, "Well played, sister mine, well played."

She grinned, "I know. I'm awesome like that." she glanced away, then sighed, "I gotta get back, and you probably should too. Could you tell everyone I love them, I miss them, and that I'm fine?" she hesitated as the memory of Remus and Sirius, both depressed over her 'death' went through her mind, "And could you tell Remus and Sirius to? For those two could you also tell them I'm happy with my family, but I miss them terribly?"

Mike sighed, "Of course you silly girl. I'll miss you, the rest of your family already does, so get through that twisted game as quickly as you can, ok?"

She nodded, "Of course. I'll miss you too. You better be careful in that stupid tournament, or I'll kick your ass, _and_ never forgive you." she paused then added, "Oh, and the egg is Mermish. You need to listen to it underwater. It also means the second task probably has something to do _with_ water. I have a book on water related spells in my devil bringer. Ask Nero to retrieve it, he'll know what I'm talking about."

He gave an amused snort, then nodded. A moment later he faded away. Nodding to herself, she left her mindscape as well. Kirito was probably worried, depending on how much time had passed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1): Normally I don't call things by their name unless I think the character whose pov I'm writing in would know the name, but I wasn't sure how to describe this, so I just called it by its name. If you don't know what it is, just Google it. Though the canopy would be hung much farther up then the pictures there show.


	11. The Catacombs

Mike blinked as he woke up. He was still sitting in the chair by Marzanna's bed, but he was slumped over. There was a new man in the room with them now. The man tilted his head at him, when he spoke it was in accented English, "Are you alright?" Mike nodded hesitantly, "What happened?"

Mike glanced at his tense mother, "Who's he? Why's he here?"

Lily's tone was clipped, "Didn't say. All he told us it that he's a government official."

The man flashed a placating smile, "I also said I didn't want to repeat myself. Now that the young man is awake I'll explain. My name is Kikuoka Seijirou, or rather by your customs, Seijirou Kikuoka. My current job is with the SAO task force, which keeps tabs on all those people trapped. We're also trying to find a way to shut down Sword Art Online and release the players. For this conversation, you should also know I'm a squib, so you don't need to worry about the statue of secrecy. There are 23 players who are magicals. Due to the whole magic and technology not mixing very well, we keep a closer eye on them. So when the magic detecting runes placed in this room started going off, I came to find out what was going on." he paused the let them absorb that, then focused on Mike, "So, I'll ask again, what happened?"

Lily eyed Kikuoka in suspicion for a minute, then nodded, "Marzanna and Mike are twins. They haven't seen each other in eight years, so they're magic and bond were resynchronizing."

Kikuoka looked incredulous, "Eight years? But if they're twins-"

Lily cut him off, "They don't share the same father. It's complicated, and none of your business. The only thing you need to know for the purpose of this conversation is that a spell allowed me to become pregnant with Mike while I was less than a month pregnant with Marzanna. Like regular magical twins, their magic entwined together, and the twin bond was created. Since they don't have the same father though, they're bond is much weaker than most. This proved to be a boon, since it allowed them to be separated without consequences." She gave him a moment to think about that, then continued, "Now, there's something I want to know before you question my son. Since some of your little task force is aware of magic, and you guys are in charge of the SAO players, what precautions are you taking for the magical players? After all, you people surely realize that while they'd normally be too old to have bursts of accidental magic, the extreme circumstances could cause discharges of magic."

Kikuoka hummed, "Yes, we did realize that. Do you see that purple IV drip? The nurses attending magicals have been told it's for a medical condition, and to never let it run out. It's actually a potion that inhibits magic. We're hoping that it'll be enough to stop or curb any pulses of magic from messing with the NerveGear and potentially causing it to kill them. In case it isn't enough, our next priority is to minimize casualties. So the rooms with magical players are laced with magic absorbing runes, so that none escapes the room, and possibly kill other players as well." He turned back to Mike, "If your minds were trying to match back up, then surely you know  _something_. The SAO task force may have nearly all the information available on SAO's players, but we know practically  ** _nothing_** about the game itself. We don't even know the rules and conditions of the game. When Kayaba released the instructions not to attempt to remove the players NerveGear, he only told us that whether or not the players returned was up to them. We don't even know how they'll come back. So  _anything_  you know would help."

Mike blinked then sorted through the information he got from his sisters mind, "The rules are simple, but brutal. Your health bar is your life. If your HP drops to zero, in other words if you die in the game, the NerveGear kills the player in real life. To get stronger and increase their chances of survival, players have to level up. The cities are safe zones. Unless you accept a challenge to fight another player, which is called a duel, it's impossible for a player's health to drop in a city." pausing to think for moment, he noticed Kikuoka writing everything down, though his phone also seemed to be recording the conversation. He only knew what it was a phone from Marzanna's memories, "I might be forgetting some of the more complex stuff, but those are the most basic rules. The conditions are simple in concept, but difficult in practice. There are 100 floors in SAO. Players start on the bottom floor in the Town of Beginnings. To advance to the next floor, players must first make their way to the labyrinth of that floor. A labyrinth is a massive tower connecting one floor to the next, making them all 100 meters tall, and the only way to reach unexplored floors. To even enter the labyrinth, players must first defeat a field boss blocking the entrance. Once they enter they need to navigate the labyrinth. All labyrinths have twenty floors each, and as their name suggests, the labyrinths are mazes filed to the brim with winding paths, traps, monsters, hidden rooms, and dead ends. After finding their way to the 20th floor of a labyrinth, players must then fight the floor boss to access the next floor. The main goal is to make it to the 100th floor and beat the final boss. If even a single player can do that,  _every_  player will be released. Those are the rules and conditions made by Kayaba Akihiko. What else do you want to know? If I have the answer I'll tell you."

Everyone was silent for a few minutes, then Dante made an agitated growl, "Fucking hell! They have to beat that entire twisted game on one life? I mean, I've heard of one life runs, but most people can't do that in  _regular_  video games, where you push a button and your character completes the action for you. In this game they have to  **actually**  do everything themselves."

Kikuoka nodded wearily, then sighed, "Do you know the general mental health of the players? How many floors have they cleared? And how many players are actively trying to clear the game?"

Mike sighed, "Given the circumstances, it's not surprising that depression, fear, and anxiety run rampant through the majority of the players. For the first month of the game almost all of the players were either too scared to leave to Town of Beginnings, or to focused on grinding to level up to actively make attempts to clear the game. Only a measly 40ish players were mapping the labyrinth looking for the boss room." He paused and glanced at Marzanna, "Marzanna and her party member Kirito were, and still are, in that group that's focused on clearing the game. Anyway, because there were so few players mapping the labyrinth, they didn't find and defeat the boss until almost a month later. Since the first boss was beaten though, the number of players dedicated to clearing the game has risen, but it's still a tiny 200ish people. They're currently on the fifth floor, and averaging," he thought for a moment, "eight and a half days per floor."

Nero cursed for a minute in a brutal sounding language, a moment later Mike's realized that while he couldn't understand him, he recognized it as the devil dialect of the demonic language. A moment later Dante said something in the same language. Nero angrily snapped back and they argued for a few moments. Then Nero exploded in English, "Don't tell me to calm down! Think about what Mike  _just_  said for a minute Dante! Even if they keep that eight and a half average, it'll  _still_  take them almost 25 months to compete the other 95 floors! Almost two and a half  _years_  Dante. And that's only if they keep their current pace, as the game gets harder they'll probably take longer!"

Deafening silence followed Nero's outburst, and he finally lost his anger, slumping in defeat. Kikuoka shifted, "I know you probably don't want to hear this, but an eight day average to beat a mini-boss, navigate a massive twenty floor maze to find a boss, and grind until they're strong enough to safely beat the boss is actually a pretty good time. They're moving rather quickly."

Nero glared at him, all but hissing, "I  _know_  that. That just makes it worse though, because it means they probably won't be able to cut that time down."

There was silence for a few minutes then Mike remembered, "Oh ya. I talked to Marzanna."

Nero, Dante, and Lily snapped their gazes back to him. Nero spoke in a hurried manner, "What'd she say?

Mike tilted his head, "She said to tell you guys that she's fine, and she loves and misses you." turning to Nero he continued, "Also she told me she had a book on water related magic in her devil bringer, and wanted you to retrieve it for me. The second task of that stupid tournament I'm being forced to compete in will probably have something to do with water. So she said I could borrow it."

Nero nodded, then moved over to Marzanna, and grabbed her left hand. Nero closed his eyes in concentration, and a moment later a blue glow passed from Marzanna's hand to his. He pulled his hand away and with another flash of blue he was holding an incredibly thick and  _very_  old book. In thick bold black letters on the front was its title, 'Wæter Wiccedom'(1). Mike took it carefully. He was a bit annoyed with his sister. She hadn't told him the book was old. He didn't care how old the information was as long as it helped him, but what if he damaged the book? A book this old wasn't easily replaced. It would be just his luck that after eight years apart, the first thing he does is destroy an irreplaceable belonging of his sister's.

Mike walked into the library. He had gotten back from visiting his sister half an hour ago. The first thing he did was go to his dorm to grab the egg, a change of clothes, and a towel. He put those and his sister's book in his school bag, after emptying it of course. Then went to find Hermione. The library was always a good place to start. Sure enough, he found her in the third out of the way table he checked. He hadn't even known those tables were there until Hermione showed them to him, they were so out of the way they were practically hidden.

She looked up when he sat in the chair next to her. He was a bit happy when she closed the book she'd been reading to give him her full attention. Hermione didn't do that far just anyone. Hermione looked him over for a minute, "You look happy. I take it your sister's doing well?"

Mike grinned, "It seemed like she was more than fine to me." she gave him a baffled look, so he elaborated, "Since we're twins and we've been separated for so long, our bond immediately tried to repair itself as soon as I got close enough to the hospital. Due to that, when we got to her room I ended up seeing some of her memories and talking to her. She's defiantly got a crush on her party member, though she's completely in denial." Hermione's lips twitched in amusement, then he grew serious, "Anyway, I know she saw some of my memories too, because she knew about the tournament, and the egg without me telling her."

Hermione immediately leaned towards him in interest, "Did she have anything to say about the egg?"

Mike then glanced around and cast a quick muffliato, "Apparently the screeching is Mermish. So she figured the second task has something to do with water. She told me I'll understand the egg if I listen to it underwater."

Hermione nodded, "She thinks it's a water based task? Understandable, and I agree that it's likely. Even muggles know mermaids are aquatic creatures. Have you listened to the egg yet?"

Mike shook his head, "No. Not yet, I just got back a little bit ago. I stopped by my dorm, then came straight here to talk to you. My sister let me borrow this for the second task. I don't think I need to tell you this, but I'll say it anyway. This is  **very**  old and belongs to my sister, so be  ** _careful_**  with it."

He pinned her with serious heavy look for a moment, then pulled the book out and gently handed it to Hermione, who took it with equal care. She was wide eyed as she looked the book over, then glanced at the first few pages, "This is in old English!" at his confused look she exclaimed in exasperation, "It means it has to be at  _least_  nine hundred years old!(2)" she ran her fingers over the page it was open to in near reverence, "Where'd your sister even get this?"

He shrugged, "No clue, but if the fact her mindscape was half enormous library was any indication, I think you guys would get along like a house on fire. Not to mention I'm pretty sure it's not the only stupidly old book on magic she owns. I know for a fact she has a scroll on ancient Egyptian magic purification rituals  _from_  ancient Egypt." he grinned at her, "Anyway, since you would've demanded to read it anyway, I figured I'd drop it off with you, then ask McGonagall if I can use the perfects' bathroom, since the regular dorms don't have tubs, and I need to listen to this egg. Just remember to be careful with the book. It's not like Marzanna can replace it easily if it gets ruined."

Hermione snorted, "You don't need to tell me that. I'm well aware how fragile the book is, and the impossibility of replacing it. Now go. McGonagall should be in her office this time of day."

* * *

 

February 24th, 2023- 110 days since SAO launch:

The second task was starting. Apparently he was supposed to retrieve 'something he'd sorely miss'. Marzanna's book had been a godsend. It didn't just have spells, it also had mentioned plants and enchanted objects. Hermione read the entire book in two days, and promptly told him about gillyweed. He asked Snape where he could buy some, but the Professor just gave him enough to last two hours, then taught him a spell to change back into a human before the gillyweed wore off. His only explanation was that gillyweed was difficult to obtain, it was impossible to breath out of water under gillyweeds' influence, and that Marzanna and Lily would kill him if he let anything happen to him.

Now Mike was anxiously waiting for the task to start. He wanted the tournament over and done with. When Ludo Bagman started the countdown, he put the gillyweed on his mouth. After swallowing it he started to grow flippers and gills. Bagman started the second task before the transformation was complete, but he jumped into the water immediately anyway, as he couldn't breathe because of the gills.

As soon as the transformation finished he cast one of the many spells he learned from Marzanna's book. It detected human shaped beings within five miles of the caster. He'd learned it to be able to find the mermaids, but it also showed him where the other champions were. To his shock the spell also revealed four humans in the Mer village. Swimming in that direction, he kept the spell active and kept an eye on the other champions' progress. When he was halfway to the village, his spell detected Fleur Delacour thrash for a few moments then shoot towards the surface. He figured she must've been attacked by something, and forced to forfeit this portion of the tournament. He hadn't even known he was allowed to forfeit until the previous day. Needless to say, he'd been rather annoyed no one had told him before. The only reason he was even trying to complete the second task was because he wanted to know who was trying to kill him, and the only way he'd find out is if he wins the tournament. He just hoped he didn't end up getting himself killed.

Upon reaching the hostages he immediately saw Hermione and started swimming towards her. When he got close he saw that they were in some sort of sleep, and a fine stream of bubbles was coming from each of them. Cutting Hermione free with a spell, he glanced at the other hostages and froze. The hostage to Hermione's right was a little girl who looked almost exactly like Fleur, he assumed they were sisters. The girl looked about eight years old. The problem was that unlike the other three, she was wide awake. She was also staring at him with pleading terror filled eyes. Why was she scared? Surely they'd explained what they were doing to the four before tying them to the bottom of the lake. Why was she even awake though? A moment later it hit him like a bludgeoning curse. At the wand weighing Fleur had said the Veela hair was from her grandmother. Which meant Fleur and her sister were part Veela. Righteous fury immediately burned through him. It was common knowledge that water magic  **never**  took correctly to Veela, due to them being fire elementals. And they  **stupidly**  tied one to the bottom of a lake?!

"You're Fleur's sister, aren't you?" He didn't like the way the water garbled his speech, but the little girl apparently understood anyway, because she nodded, "Then you're Veela." she nodded again, "Hold on. I'll free you."

However when he went to cut her rope, one of the mermaids near the hostages pointed their spear at him, "Only one! No more. Not yours."

He shook his head, "She's part Veela, she won't survive down here, and her sister was already forced to retreat."

The mermaid hissed, "Veela?! In  ** _our_**  waters?! No one said anything about Veela!"

She, at least he thought it was female, shouted for a bit more, drawing a crowd, then subsided into angry muttering. A few moments later the crowd parted for another mermaid. It looked between the muttering mermaid and him, "What's going on here?"

Mike glanced at the other mermaid before hesitantly explaining, "This little girl is part Veela. Her sister was supposed to rescue her, but got attacked and had to forfeit. I'm assuming any unclaimed hostages will be returned once all champions have left the lake, but she won't survive that long. From how slowly my spell is showing me Cedric moving, she'll drown long before he arrives. So I was trying to take her with me. It's not her fault, she doesn't want to be here."

The newly arrived mer hissed, "How dare they put a little Veela in our lake?!" there was agitated murmuring from the crowd, then the one who had spoken visibly forced itself to calm down, "Very well. You may take the Veela. Now go."

Nodding his thanks, he cut her rope with a spell, grabbed her and Hermione, then swam to the surface. As soon as he broke the surface, Hermione woke up, and the little girl coughed up water, then flung her arms around his neck clutching him tightly. Hermione shook her head to get rid of her disorientation.

She gave him a questioning look when she saw Fleur's sister, he explained before she could ask, "She's Fleur's sister. They're both quarter Veela at least. Fleur was forced to forfeit."

Hermione's eyes widened in understanding, "In that case, let's hurry and get her out of the water. Her family's probably worried sick about her anyway."

It was difficult to swim with Fleur's sister clinging to him, but she wouldn't let go, and was terrified, so he made it work. As soon as they were close enough they heard Fleur screaming and shouting hysterically in French. She kept shouting the name Gabrielle. Mike shifted the girl clinging to him until he could see her face, "Is your name Gabrielle?" she nodded, "You should call out to your sister. She hasn't seen you, and she's scared for you."

The little girl nodded slowly, then twisted a bit in it arms and started yelling in French. Fleur immediately whipped around to look at them, then yelled Gabrielle's name in relief. As soon as they reached the platform, Fleur yanked out of a confused Madame Maxime's arms, and pulled Gabrielle up out of the water and into her arms.

The swim had not made him forget his fury. So as soon as he was on the platform, and sure Gabrielle was safe, he rounded on the judges, "Who the fuck thought it was a good idea to put a Merlin damned  ** _Veela_**  on the bottom of the lake?!"

Maxime's eyes widened in horror, so she'd either forgotten the Delacour heritage, or hadn't known in the first place. As much as he didn't like the man, Karkaroff clearly hadn't known either, and had turned almost as white as a ghost. Bagman looked nervous, and Dumbledore gave him a disapproving look. Fuck him. He could be as disapproving as he wanted, this was  **not**  ok, and he  ** _wasn't_**  dropping the issue anytime soon.

Dumbledore was certainly going to attempt to get him too though, "Now Mike, there's no reason-"

That just made him angrier, "No reason for what! You people almost  **killed**  an eight year old girl! Or are you seriously trying to tell me you  **don't**  know that supplemental water spells don't work on Veela?"

Maxine had bowed her head, apparently willing to take his well-deserved fury. Karkaroff was glaring at Bagman and Dumbledore now. Bagman was nearly cowering behind Dumbledore, who was now looking at him sharply, "Be that as it may, this is not the place-"

Mike growled, "What's wrong. Don't want to admit you made a mistake? Well you fucking did! Or is it that you don't want people to know that the  _great_  Dumbledore messed up badly, almost  **killing**  a little girl? To fucking bad. You-"

To his surprise it was Potter who cut him off, he hadn't even known the man had come to see the tasks, "That is  ** _enough_**  Mike! You are  **way**  out of line! I doubt Dumbledore knew she was part Veela. You're blowing this way out of proportion."

Hermione exploded before he could, " ** _Out of proportion?!_**  A little girl almost  **died**! This reaction is  _entirely_  justified. And even if they _didn't_  know, that's still a horrible mistake! They should've made sure it was safe to put her down there first!"

Potter glared at her, but before he could respond Fleur beat him to it, as she moved so she was standing next to Mike, "You idiot's stupidity nearly killed my sister. An eight year old girl. You should be ashamed of yourselves." glaring at the judges for a few more seconds, she turned to him and smiled gratefully, kissed him on each cheek, then pulled him into a hug, "Thank you. Thank you so much. I don't know what I would've done if my sister died because of me. You didn't have to save her, but you did. So I'll be grateful for the rest of my life. The Delacour family owes you a life debt."

Mike flushed and looked away, he didn't dare try and say they didn't owe him the debt. It was a grave insult, as it implies you don't believe the person worth saving. So instead he simply said, "I only did what any half decent person would. Anyway, will she be ok?"

Fleur shook her head, "You'd be surprised at what knowing the person you're looking at isn't completely human does to people. Gabrielle is with your school's healer, Pomfrey. I think that's her name anyway."

Mike nodded, "It is." with a final dark look at the judges and Potter, he grabbed Hermione's hand and Fleur's arm, then lead them away, "Come on, let's go get some pepper up potion. I don't want to catch a cold, and I don't want you girls too either."

* * *

 

Hanna and Kirito were in a sub-dungeon on the tenth floor, the current front line. Argo had gotten info that there was a sub-dungeon, called «The Catacombs of the Damned», that the beta testers hadn't discovered. The beta testers had only been on the tenth floor for two days before the beta ended, so it wasn't surprising. What was surprising was the fact no one had made it past the first room, most didn't even make it through the hallway leading up to the room. The only players on the tenth floor were the clearers, whose current average level was 31. The fact they couldn't get too far was telling about how difficult the dungeon was.

However, with their new routine of grinding in the labyrinth at night, Hanna was level 39, and Kirito had just reached level 40(3). They hadn't hidden their grinding strategy, but no one had started doing it despite the results. It had the side effect of changing people's opinions of them. People hated them less, instead thinking them insane. Which meant the term «Beater» had changed a bit. Instead of  _just_  meaning someone who's a beta tester and cheater, it had changed to someone who's a beta tester, cheater, and is also utterly insane. Which was nice. An unwanted and unintended side effect of making themselves out to be bad guys, and subsequently coining the term beater, was that  **other**  people started being labeled beaters. The addition of insanity being a requirement of beaters had all but put a stop to that. Which was great as far as Hanna was concerned. Kirito had started the beater thing to stop discrimination again beta testers. So when they heard  _other_  people were being labeled beaters, he'd blamed himself. The things it'd done to him... Hanna didn't like to think about it. She was grateful it was mostly over.

Anyway, due to their levels they decided to take a shot at the catacombs. The decision may have also been partially made because they actually  _were_  a little crazy, not that either of them would ever admit it.

Kirito eyed the entrance to the catacombs, "Think it's cooler in there?"

Hanna snorted. The tenth floor was a desert. Which had led to Hanna discovering that Kirito  ** _hated_**  the heat. He got moody, irritable, and was generally a complete grouch. She hoped there wasn't another desert floor later, but since there was a limited number of biomes, and 100 floors, she wasn't counting on it. Thankfully different types of forests were the most common floor theme, so she wasn't expecting to come across very many of them. She may not know if there were any more, or how many there were, but she definitely knew one thing. Kirito and she were  **not**  participating in clearing anymore deserts, Kirito's grouchyness was ridiculous. Kirito had told her that he  **loved**  the cold, so she  _really_  hoped the next floor was a tundra or something, if just to get Kirito to stop being moody.

Hanna tilted her head, "Probably, but it's equally likely that it'll smell horrible in there. I hope you're not scared of ghosts. The mobs in there are undoubtedly types of undead."

Kirito snorted, and pushed the dungeons door, "So? Come on, I want to get out of this damn heat."

Hanna rolled her eyes at Kirito's rude tone, and followed him inside. They were in a hallway that was bare for the first 20 feet. After that there were upright coffins that were inside alcoves in the walls. Going down the hall connected to the door, it rapidly cooled. Hanna sighed in relief as Kirito, who was walking a bit in front of her, slowly relaxed. The peace was broken by an inhuman shriek as one of the coffins burst open. Out of it stepped a mummy looking creature. It was thinly wrapped, patches of decayed grey skin could be seen, and it was dragging a large axe. A red cursor appeared over its health bar and name, which was «Revenant Executioner».

Hanna and Kirito immediately drew their weapons, and readied themselves. With another piercing shriek it began to walk towards them. It was slow, but if the large axe was any indication, it probably traded speed for damage, and she'd be willing to bet it also had a large amount if health as well. If this was just the first mob she could see why others failed. The hallway was very narrow, so once the Revenant swung its weapon the only way to dodge was backwards. Which would quickly become an issue for parties of four or more. It would hamper her and Kirito too, especially since the hallways were so narrow switching would be nearly impossible, but they'd manage.

Still short tempered and irritable from the heat, Kirito quickly lost patience and rushed the Revenant. Hanna's first instinct was to get closer so they could switch quicker, but she knew that would just limit Kirito even more than the narrow hallway had, so she stayed back. As soon as Kirito got within rang the Revenant shifted its weight and started pulling the axe into position to swing. Kirito got five quick slashes, then jumped back as the Revenant swung its axe. Even though Kirito was level 40, he barely took a little less than an eighth of its health. As soon as the Revenant was done with its swing, Kirito continued his attack. The process repeated until the Revenant was down to a quarter of its health. Then Kirito risked a sword skill that finished the Revenant off.

After that they encountered sixteen more Revenants. She let Kirito deal with most of them, since fighting seemed to be a stress reliever for him, but she killed five of them that came up behind them while he was fighting. It was clearly meant to be a trap that enclosed players attempting the dungeon, and could easily be deadly. Especially if the Revenants got close enough to each other, as that would limit the already tiny space further. Players leaving before they even reached the first room made a lot more sense after that.

The hallway ended after that, opening up into a room full of coffins, about a hundred of them. They were neatly lined up in rows of ten, and they were  **all**  full of Revenants. Thankfully they didn't all come out at the same time, but a quarter of them came out to start, and every time they defeated one another would awaken. Hanna decided it was a tricky dungeon. The hallway had been designed to give bigger parties trouble, while the first room was made to be difficult for smaller parties.

Hanna glanced at Kirito after finishing her last Revenant off, he was waiting for her, having already finished. Thankfully he wasn't being impatient anymore, having calmed down after a good fight in the cool room. Though it was cooler in here, she'd been right about the smell. It smelled of stale air and decay. Which was  _not_  pleasant. Even less so when combined.

Hanna rolled her shoulders, then sheathed her falcata as she moved over to him, "So do you want to just keep going, or see if we can find anything hidden in here?"

Kirito tilted his head in thought for a minute, "Let's look around. That last hallway probably forced most people to come back with smaller parties. So, the most likely reason no one made it pass this room was because they couldn't clear it out before retreating. There probably were a few parties who cleared it, then retreated. Even if they searched the room, they might not have found everything, if there's anything to find to begin with."

Hanna nodded, and they separated to search the room. After twenty minutes with no success, Kirito huffed, then started towards the door to the next area, "I guess there's nothing here. Let's just go." she made no move to follow, which Kirito noticed quickly. He walked back to her, "Hanna? What's wrong?"

Hanna shook her head, "Nothing, just... With the coffins, how dim it is, and the fact they just fought undead in here, this room would creep most people out. Enough that they'd leave as soon as they were done fighting. Which makes it the  **perfect**  place to hide something, because only the players brave enough to stick around will find it. It just doesn't seem right for it to be empty."

Kirito narrowed his eyes, "Creepy. Bravery. Don't tell me..." Hanna gave him a questioning look, "Did you look  ** _in_**  the coffins? I didn't."

Hanna's eyes widened, and she slowly shook her head. She looked away from him, and back towards the coffins. There was silence for a moment, then she shifted, "So. Up for some grave robbing?"

Kirito snorted, "'Grave robbing'? They're just places the mobs were hiding. They're not  _actual_  graves. No, I'm actually more concerned about how stupid I'll look of I'm wrong."

She laughed lightly at his admission, "Don't wanna embarrass yourself in front of a girl Kirito? Don't worry, I won't laugh at you."

He grinned at her briefly, then turned back to the coffins, "So, you start on this end going left to right, and I'll start from the other end going right to left."

Hanna nodded, and they split up. There turned out to be nothing in the coffins, so they went through the door to the next hallway, which was just as narrow as the first. It also had upright coffins like the previous, but none of them opened as they walked along. However after two minutes of walking, an ominous breeze started up.

Hanna glanced at Kirito, "There shouldn't be any wind in here, but it  _is_  a video game. So, the question is  **why**?"

Kirito shrugged, and lifted his sword just in case. A few tense moments passed, then the wind kicked up harshly, blowing all the torches out, plunging the corridor into darkness. Hanna heard Kirito shift, "I've never seen any as items, but I don't suppose you have a touch?"

She started to shake her head, then remembered he couldn't see her, "No." paused as something occurred to her, then activated a sword skill with her claw, it immediately started to glow green, "All I've got is this. It's not very bright, but at least we can see."

Kirito sighed, "Be careful where you step. This would be the perfect spot to put traps."

Hanna nodded, and they started to move. However they had barely taken twenty steps before something started coming out of a coffin, but it wasn't a Revenant. It was a ghost of some sort, it wasn't like what most media depicted ghosts as though. Instead of being a luminescent pearly white, it was darker than night. Covered by a ragged cloak of some sort, the only things visible were its clawed hands, it's red glowing eyes, and it's mouth full of needle sharp teeth, the inside of which was emitting a glow similar to its eyes(4).

Its name and health bar appeared a moment later, it was called «Vengeful Wraith». Two more joined the first almost immediately. The Wraiths quickly proved to be the opposite of the Revenants. They moved extremely fast, but did little damage and had a small amount of health. Hanna took point for these, as she was faster than Kazuto. She was limited to her falcata, as while their eyes and mouths glowed, she didn't want to fight them in the dark.

The first one fell quickly, as she turned to the next one though, she quickly found it slashing at her with its claws. The other was coming up behind her, and with the narrowness of the hallway there was only one way to dodge. So she instinctively cartwheeled out of the way. The mobs nearly crashed into each other, and the firsts attack hit the one that had been coming up behind her. She narrowed her eyes, the second ones health dropped a little. Mobs could hurt each other? She didn't think that was possible, but the proof in the second Wraiths health bar was right in front of her. Interesting. At that point the second one charged her, but seven lightning fast slashes shattered it into polygons, and the third fell quickly after.

Kirito walked up to her, and she quickly looked at him, "Did you see that? After I cartwheeled?"

Kirito gave her a confused look, "No, I didn't see anything in particular. Why? What happened?"

Hanna narrowed her eyes, "The one that was attacking me actually  _hurt_  the one that was at my back. I saw its health drop from the attack."

Kirito's eyes widened for a split second, then narrowed in thought as he slowly spoke, "Well, players have to be careful not to hit each other, and while this game is many things, it's also fair. If we can accidentally hurt each other, it makes sense the mobs can as well. Still, that's something we need to tell Argo. While I doubt it'll be a huge help to anyone, it  _might_. So we should get her to add it into the latest guidebook."

Hanna nodded. As they made their way down the hallway there were in fact a few traps. Even with the low light from her claw they managed to see most of them, but they accidentally activated a few they didn't notice. One of them almost went through Kirito's neck, and while decapitation wouldn't happen unless you were low on health, being a neck shot it would've taken a huge chunk of his health points. Soon after, they found out that the Wraiths had a special ability. They could make a Banshee-like scream, and if you were too close when they did you became momentarily paralyzed. While a bit of a bother, it wasn't a huge issue until they reached the second room, which was pretty much exactly like the first, only with fifty more coffins. However a sixth of the coffins contained Wraiths. Their screams were  _very_  troublesome then, as the paralysis gave the Revenants time to hit you. Thankfully, only three Wraiths emerged at a time. Even so, by the time they'd cleared that room both of their health bars were in the yellow.

Kirito glanced at her, "You wanna check the coffins while I check the rest of the room?"

Hanna shrugged, "Sure."

She started near the hallway they came from and slowly made her way towards the door. On her thirteenth row of coffins, she found something, "Hey! I found a button!"

Kirito looked over, "Well, push it then."

She did exactly that. Immediately there was a click followed by the sound of stones heavily grinding against each other, and the coffin slid to the side revealing a chest embedded into the ground. Kirito walked up, "Do you wanna open it, or should I?

Hanna shrugged, so Kirito leaned down and opened it. The inside was empty, but all chests were. Instead a window popped up in front of Kirito. It was solid grey to her, since he hadn't made it viewable to her, but he immediately changed that. She read the widow over,

'Chest found! Items received:

50,000 col

Three Teleport crystals

Cloak of the Void'

Hanna tilted her head, "Cloak of the Void?"

Kirito glanced at her, then got rid of the chest menu. As he stood up, he quickly made his way to the cloak, then made his menu visible to her. She leaned over to read over his shoulder, at the top was the items name, followed by its stats, which were rather high. Below that was the item description, 'Created from the cloaks of one hundred Wraiths, the Cloak of the Void makes its wearer nearly invisible, and boosts damage dealt from the shadows, making it the perfect cloak for an assassin.

+20% to Hiding

+20% to Tracking

2x damage done while undetected

2x damage dealt with daggers and claws'

Kirito hummed, "Nice." Hanna nodded, he glanced at her, then started manipulating the widow, "Well, I've got my coat already. So you can have the cloak."

Hanna tilted her head, "You sure? I mean, I know you use the coat so people can identify you as 'the beater Kirito', and are kinda attached to it, but that cloak's stronger."

Kirito nodded, "Ya. Besides, my «Coat of Midnight» has a hiding buff too. Admittedly, it's only a 5% boost, but it still has it. Plus, it boosts claw damage, so it's better suited for you anyway."

Hanna nodded, then clicked accept when a trade menu popped in front of her without adding anything, "If you're sure." opening her menu, She quickly equipped her new cloak, "With loot like that in here, I doubt there's anything else hidden, but let's check anyway."

Hanna ended up being right, as there was nothing else, in any of the other coffins or anywhere else. So they moved on. The next hallway was thankfully lit, and wide enough for two people to fight together comfortably, but there were both Revenants and Wraiths, and they always attacked at the same time. Without speaking, it was decided Hanna would deal with the Wraiths while Kirito took the Revenants. After half an hour, they reached a massive golden door. It was defiantly the dungeons boss room.

Sharing a quick glance with Kirito, Hanna pushed her hand against the door, but it didn't budge. Hanna scowled, "Are you kidding me?! It's locked?! What, beating the rest of your stupid dungeon wasn't enough for you?"

Kirito sighed, "Calm down Hanna. I know this dungeon is frustrating, but losing your temper won't solve anything. Let's just look for a way to open it here, then make our way back to see if we missed something important."

Hanna huffed angrily, then at Kirito's pointed look forced herself to take a calming breath, "Ok, let's just look for the stupid thing. I'm completely  _done_  with this dungeon. I'll take the left side."

Five minutes later Kirito called out to her, "Found something."

Looking over she saw Kirito crouched on the floor, staring at the wall. Walking up to him, she saw he was looking at a circular hole in the wall. Crouching next to him her leaned over to look in, but saw nothing as it was completely dark. Activating a skill with her claw, and holding it up only revealed a few inches inside. What little she could see was bare.

They both stared for a minute. Then she let her skill fizzle out, and lowered her claw, "Whatchya wanna bet you gotta stick your arm in there."

Kirito snorted, "Not a single col." he paused, "It is  _my_  arm going in, isn't it."

His tone was a bit defeated, and it was definitely a statement rather than a question. Hanna nodded without hesitation, "Yup. Don't worry. I doubt anything will happen." at his deadpan look, she rolled her eyes, "I'm serious. Think about it. The Revenants, the coffin switch, the dark hallway with Wraiths and traps, the Wraiths themselves. This entire dungeon is designed to scare people. It's less of a test of strength, and more of a test of nerves. So even if something does happen, I doubt it'll be  _that_  dangerous. It'll probably be more scary than anything. The worst it can do is cut your hand off, which a healing potion can grow back in a few hours. Besides, in case you've forgotten, you can't feel pain, so even if it does take your arm off, it's not like it'll  _hurt_."

Kirito sighed, then nodded. Just as he was about to put his hand in, he paused, "Ok, I'll admit everything you said was true, but what if it doesn't  _just_  take my hand off? What if it also poisons me or something? The combination of a poison and lost limb status effects could kill me rather quickly, depending on the poisons level."

Hanna paused as she realized he was right, then quickly opened and manipulated her menu. Pulling out a healing crystal she held onto it, "Then I'll just use this. It'll regrow the limb instantly, which will buy us enough time to deal with any other debuffs."

Kirito nodded, then reached into the hole. A moment later there was a click, and the boss door began to open. Kirito froze, "Hanna?"

"Yes?"

"Something just grabbed my arm. I can't pull it out."

Hanna frowned, "Did it grab you as soon as you pushed the button, or was there a small delay?"

"Immediately."

Hanna's frown deepened, "I swear, this better not be a trap designed to make parties leave someone behind while they fight the boss. If it is, I can guarantee you it won't let go until the boss is defeated."

Kirito pursed his lips, "I think it might be. After all if something was going to happen, it would've done so already. Right?"

Hanna shook her head, "Not necessarily. There could be a wait so that the player either has time to panic, or so they're tensely waiting for something to-" there was a large click from the wall, then a loud metallic grinding noise started, "-happen."

Kirito shifted as best he could, "Saw about to cut off my arm, or loud noise only meant to scare me?"

Hanna glanced at him, "50/50."

"Figured as much."

The waited in silence as the grinding noise slowly got closer, and Kirito began to instinctively tense up. It lasted about a minute, then the noise abruptly stopped. A moment later there was a loud click, and Kirito quickly pulled his completely intact arm back. He frowned as he rubbed his wrist, "Hanna?" she hummed as she pocketed the health crystal. She'd already pulled it out, so she figured she'd keep it out in case they needed it for the boss fight. Kirito shifted, "This dungeon sucks."

She snorted in amusement, "Come on. We've got a beat down to give to a boss."

He grinned lightly. Then stood up and followed her. They paused in the doorway as they got a look at the room. It was enormous, with intricate carvings on the walls, and equally intricate pillars neatly lined up in two rows ten feet from the walls. Other than that it was almost completely bare, as the only thing in the room was a massive stone on a raised platform at the end of the room.

Kirito tilted his head, "Let me guess, the stone is really a massive coffin and when we get close the boss will burst out."

Hanna shook her head, "Nah. They did the bursting coffin thing for the Revenants. It'll try to jump scare us, by popping up out of nowhere as we make out way to the stone coffin thing."

Kirito tilted his head, then nodded in agreement. They shared a look, then readied their weapons. Twenty feet in the door closed behind them, but they only spared it a glance. Halfway to the maybe coffin, the ground cracked open five feet in front of them, and a massive claw of bone tried to crush them. As they jumped back to avoid the attack, the ground began to break apart, and a large dragon pulled itself out. It was almost entirely bone. What little skin there was, covered its neck, then followed the spikes jutting up from its spine to its tail, and was between the bones of its wings, but there were many holes torn into it. Its claws were razor sharp, and its tail ended in a needle like point. Its large head had a spike protruding from between its eyes, which were glowing blue(5). It had two health bars, and its name was above them, «Livjatan the Dracolich».

Kirito glanced at her, then took point. Darting in he slashed at its head four times, then was forced to jump back, to avoid a lightning fast bite. She darted in as he dated away, then started manually going through the motions of a six hit falcata skill. After the fifth one though, she abruptly shifted to a different skill. When the boss froze as its algorithms tried to figure the attack out, she charged an actual skill, a ten hit medium damage falcata skill called «Ember Song». She unfroze from the skill use, then jumped back when Kirito called for a switch. He rushed by her with a skill ready, then hit the boss with it. She recognized it as the heavy damage four hit skill «Vertical Square». At that point the boss unfroze and swiped at Kirito. When he jumped back it used the momentum from its attack to stab its tail at him like a spear. Kirito blocked, but her jaw dropped when it took a sixteenth of his health anyway. This was a mini-boss on the tenth floor, and Kirito was level 40! It shouldn't be able to do that much damage when Kirito blocks!

Darting forward she called for Kirito to switch. Left slash with her falcata, right slash with her claw, diagonally up then down back the same path, back to her sword for three rapid back and forth slashes while she charged a skill with her claw. Release the claw skill, «Lions Fury», which causes a stun debuff for ten seconds. With that she bought Kirito the time to use a potion, then switched with him again. He immediately hit the boss with five rapid slashes, then seemed to shift his balance before following it up with three more hits. The boss froze again, and with a jolt she realized he'd used her tactic of manually starting a sword skill, then switching to another partway through.

Chancing a glance the Dracolich's health, she was relieved to see it only had half of its second bar left. With how overpowered it seemed, she'd been worried it had a ridiculous amount of health. She supposed it kinda did. Being a level ten boss, which she was beginning to doubt, it should already be dead due to the level difference between it and them. She was beginning to think this dungeon was one you were supposed to come back to later. She wasn't going to complain though, it was almost dead, and if she was right they'd get some amazing gear incredibly early. Actually, this being a dungeon you were supposed to return to later would explain the «Cloak of the Void». While she'd been looking at its health, she charged up Ember song again. Then switched with Kirito so he could charge a heavy skill. Switching again Kirito hit it with his skill just as it unfroze.

To their horror though, the boss  _wasn't_  finished off, and immediately lunged for Kirito just as the glow from his sword started to die down. Hanna was too far away to interfere in time. Just as she stepped forward to try and reach him, Kirito's fist began to glow blue. The «Martial Arts» skill they'd gotten together. But he shouldn't be able to use it, he'd freeze in a second from using the previous skill. That second proved to be all he needed to activate the skill, and punch the boss in the face full on. It froze, then a moment later shattered into millions of blue polygons.

Hanna stared at Kirito's back. Game or not, he just  _killed_  a dragon, by punching it in the face.  _Punched_  a  **dragon**. To  **death**. In the  **face**. An  _undead_  dragon to boot. She'd known he was kind and sweet, that he was playful, if a bit of a sleepy head, and he was highly intelligent too. Apparently being all those things wasn't enough for him though, he's gotta be a badass too. She flushed. Damn her family's weakness for stylish badassery! She'd almost managed to convince herself she didn't have a crush on him, as she thought the death game situation made it entirely inappropriate. There went  _that_  down the drain. She'd never be able to deny it now.

Kirito turned to her as he unfroze from the skill. She shook herself out of her thoughts, "What was that?'

Kirito shrugged, "I don't know actually. I guess if you charge and release it before the skill cool down kicks in, you can chain skills together. I wanna do some experimenting with it later."

Hanna nodded, "Sure. If you need any help just ask."

He smiled gently, "I know. Now, how about we stop ignoring these windows and see what our troubles got us?"

Hanna nodded with a grin, then looked down at the window. The usual large 'Congratulations!' banner was at the top. Under that it said, 'Congratulations on beating Livjatan the Dracolich! Please select your reward:

Cursed Claw

Blade of Decay

Tainted Scythe

Bloodbound Axe

Scourge of the Damned

Star-crossed Whip of Misfortune'

The scythe and Axe were mildly tempting, but the time it took to reequip made them unworth it. Hanna glanced at Kirito, "I've got Blade of the Damned and Cursed Claw over here."

Kirito nodded, "Same. You take the claw, I'll take the sword, and if it's a falcata it's yours."

Hanna nodded, clicked the claw, then confirmed her choice. Opening her menu, Hanna quickly went into her equipment to check out the new weapon. Clicking the weapon to look at its stats she stared. Then she laughed. Maniacally. Kirito gave her a strange look that was a weird cross between concerned and weary. She stopped, then coughed awkwardly while looking away from him. A glance at her menu had her grinning insanely.

Kirito shifted away, "Should I be worried?"

She pushed the button to make her menu readable to other players, then pushed hey menu towards him, "Read it out loud. I wanna make sure I'm understanding it correctly."

He gave her one last weary glance then turned his attention to the menu, "Cursed Claw." he frowned briefly as he looked the stats over, "This things weaker than the claws in the Town of Beginnings." Hanna made an impatient 'go on' gesture, he sighed, "This cursed weapon absorbs the souls of its victims. With every mob or player the wielder slays with it, this claw's strength grows. The stronger the slain, the bigger the growth, this claw's potential is nearly limitless. Claw level: 1 Xp: 0%(6)"

Kirito gaped at the menu for a minute, then started laughing incredulously. Hanna grinned at him, "I know, right?!"

He shook his head, "That's-" cut off for a minute, then huffed a small laugh, "Damn. You really  _are_  a goddess of luck."

* * *

 

(1): Old English, it means Water Witchcraft.

(2): I looked it up, old English is dated to have been used from 450-1150.

(3): This level gap won't grow that quickly anymore, but it will pretty much stay there, since it's because of how they grind, and no one else is willing to do the same thing.

(4): I looked up wraiths, this description is based off this image, which does **not** belong to me, I claim **no**  ownership of it- 

(5): looked up undead dragons. Image the Dracolich is based off off of this image, which does **not** belong to me, I claim **no**  ownership of it- 

(6): Idea gotten from rougehunter11's fanfic on ff.net 'The Beaters' and used with their permission.

 


	12. The Moonlit Black Cats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read through these myself to try and find errors, but then I'll go back and read them again when I'm writing a new chapter and still find places where my phone auto corrected errors in. I really need to get a beta tester- I mean reader! Poor joke is poor but also legitimate. I think about this story so much to figure out where I want it to go next, that I seriously typed beta tester into my phone before I realized my mistake. Silly me.

March 3rd, 2023- 118 days since SAO launch:

Hanna grinned as Argo walked in. She and Kirito had been sitting in the dining area of an inn, waiting for her for twenty minutes. Waving her over she happily greeted the other girl when she got close, "Hey Argo! How's it going?"

They both ignored Kirito's customary shudder as he was reminded of their friendship. Argo smiled brightly as she sat next to Hanna in the booth, "Great! What about you? How'd the sub-dungeon go?"

Hanna's grin widened, "Kirito punched an undead dragon to death. In the face."

Across from her Kirito flushed in embarrassment. Argo blinked rapidly in shock for a moment, then snorted, "I'd believe it. Kii-bou's crazy like that. You are as well actually. So what'd you guys get?"

Hanna chuckled, then draped her arm over Argo's shoulders, "Argo, dear, I'm not stupid enough to tell _you_ that."

Argo pouted, "Mou, Hanna-chan, why can't you be a gullible idiot like most of the people I deal with?"

Hanna smiled sweetly, "Because then I'd be average, and I'm simply too fabulous for that."

Argo laughed, then shook her head with a grin, "Anyway, what'd you guys need to talk to me about?"

Kirito leaned forward, "Listen, we figured out how to chain skills together. We've already did some experimenting with it, to figure it out better, but the basic idea is that in the few seconds between regaining control of your body after using a skill, and the cool down kicking in, you charge a new skill with your other hand, and release it. It all has to be done before you freeze, but from we can tell, you can continuously chain skills together, as long as you don't mess the timing up. Once you're done, the last skill you used determines how long you're frozen. If nothing else, it can be used to shorten the cool down of skills that freeze you for a long time."

Argo gaped for a minute, then stood up sharply, "Show me!"

They stood up as well, and Kirito nodded, "Sure, but not here. I don't want to give other players more reason to hate me and Hanna."

Hanna rolled her eyes. He really just meant her, as he didn't really care if they hated him even more. His protective nature made her face flush, and she scowled towards her feet. Stupid crush. A death game was **not** the place for romance. She needed to focus on the game, not allow herself to be distracted by a crush. Shaking herself from those thoughts, she raised her head. Argo was walking next to her, and was looking at her with a massive grin. Shit. She really hoped Argo was grinning at her for some other reason, and that she **hadn't** seen enough of that to figure out how she felt about Kirito.

That hope was smashed into more pieces than a floor boss when she glanced at Kirito, then leaned close and whispered in a conspiratorial manner, "Soooo... Kirito huh? He _is_ pretty cute, but I didn't think you'd go for it. Even if he's totally got a thing for you. Oh! Are you already together? I mean, I knew you two have started getting a double room at inns, and I'd _heard_ the other players' speculation about how close you two actually were, but I-"

Hanna turned bright red, then cut Argo off, hissing in a threatening manner, "We aren't together, and he doesn't have a thing for me. We're just **_friends_**. We share a room because it's cheaper and more convenient. That's _it_. There's nothing else to it."

Argo blinked rapidly, but thankfully didn't raise her voice, "What's with the hostility? And he so has a thing." then she grinned like a cat that got the canary, "You didn't deny having a crush."

Hanna glared, "Yes, alright. I do, but in case you haven't noticed Argo, we're stuck in a death game, I can't afford to be distracted by crushes. A bit of goofing off here and there? Sure. Being too stressed negatively impacts fighting capability, but romance? No, that's way too big a distraction. I'd never be able to focus properly. And Kirito doesn't reciprocate my feelings for him."

Argo gaped for a minute, then to her horror, loudly burst out, "Are you kidding me?" Kirito paused and looked back at them curiously, but Argo waved him off, "Girl talk." Rather than immediately turn back around like most guys would, he glanced uncertainly at Hanna. She gave him a reassuring smile, so he started walking again. Argo lowered her voice, "He doesn't have the listening skill does he?" Hanna shook her head, so Argo continued, "You're being stubborn. There are so many ways you could die tomorrow it's ridiculous. So now might be the **_only_** chance you have, and don't give me that crap about him not liking you. I can't believe you don't see the way he looks at you. God damn woman, he looks at you like you're the very moon and stars. I'm completely certain he has more than _just_ a crush on **you**."

Hanna's could feel her heart beat quicker for a moment, then contract tightly with pain. That was how her dad looked at her mom. The way Nero looked at Kyrie. Kirito **_didn't_** look at her like that. She would've noticed. So it wasn't true. Even if it was, the current situation... She responded in a rough pained voice, "Don't. Just stop. Even if you're right about him, it still isn't the time. While there are many ways I could die, getting distracted by this would only increase the chances of me, and _Kirito_ , dying. That's unacceptable. I want to be able to go home, and if something were to happen to Kirito, I-"

She cut herself off, unwilling to finish the thought. Argo stared for a minute, a contemplative look on her face, then glanced away, "I think you have more than just a crush too, Hanna-chan." at Hanna's glare, she lifted her hands in surrender, "Alright, alright. I'll drop it."

A few minutes later, they reached a small clearing in the forest surrounding the town they'd been in. Kirito turned to Argo, "So we only learned about this nine days ago. I haven't really mastered it yet, so I might mess it up."

Hanna rolled her eyes. As if. Kirito learned at a ridiculous rate. He hadn't messed it up since the first day they started experimenting with it. Argo looked just as skeptical as Hanna felt, but nodded. Kirito drew his sword and charged a skill. He immediately released it, then charged a martial arts skill with his hand. Releasing that, he charged another with his sword.

He let the cool down kick in, then looked at Argo, "See? Skill chaining. Anyway, could you add it to the next version of the guidebook? Maybe tell a few people about it so word will spread?"

Argo shook herself from her shock, "Ya, sure. Hey can you charge the second skill before you release the first?"

Kirito nodded, "To be honest, I wouldn't have asked you to add it to the next addition to the guidebook otherwise. That would just lead to players over estimating their ability and getting themselves killed."

Argo sighed, "Ya, but most players will only be able to use two skills consecutively. Still, it'll defiantly be useful, I'll just need to add a note at the bottom warning players not to try to chain three or more unless they've practiced a lot and are _absolutely_ _ **certain**_ they can. If they charge a skill with a long cool down, then fail, it'll just leave them vulnerable."

Kirito nodded seriously.

* * *

April 27th 2023- 173 days since SAO launch:

Marzanna stared at Mike incredulously. He'd visited her via their bond regularly since they were reunited, which she was happy about. She'd missed him horribly for the past eight years. This time though, he was acting as messenger not for her family, but rather for a man named Kikuoka Seijirou. Apparently he was in charge of the SAO task force. The task force had very little knowledge about what went on _in_ SAO though, so he'd made a request to her and Mike. He had a magical device that would allow them to use Mike as a conduit, or rather his bond to her, and let Kikuoka speak to her directly.

She shook her head, "Are you **_serious_**? Using magic around the NerveGear? The magic could short circuit the NerveGear, causing it to fry my brain! I may be able to survive a lot as a Nephilim, but I'm not sure if I could survive **that**!"

Mike nodded, "I know. The rest of your family doesn't know what it'd do to a Nephilim either. However, Kikuoka says they tested it extensively with a NerveGear, obviously not one being worn, and tweaked the device until he could guarantee it wouldn't interfere with the NerveGear. I wouldn't even be asking for him otherwise." seeing Marzanna still hesitating, he sighed, "That Kikuoka is a sly bastard. He had you moved to a very large private room, and said once it was set up he'd give an excuse to the nurses and just leave it here. So mom and everyone else can talk to you whenever they want. As long as I'm here anyway."

Marzanna clenched her fists, "He's using my family against me? Not to mention, dad would've **never** agreed to this if he thought there was the slightest chance it'd hurt me. So he's also using _me_ against my family as well." Mike nodded tightly, and she sighed, "Ok, fine. Tell him I'll do it. Do me a favor though, tell Kikuoka that if despite his assurances I still die, I'm so coming back to haunt him. And inform him that while it may be rare for humans to come back as a Poltergeist, people who are part demon are guaranteed to come back as one. So I'll make his life _hell_."

Mike grinned lightly, then nodded and faded from her mindscape. About ten minutes later he came back grinning like the Cheshire cat, when he arrived though, he was followed by a strange floating black diamond shaped thing. Mike shook his head, "You should've seen the look on his face when I gave him your message."

Almost immediately a voice she didn't recognize came out of the diamond, "I _can_ hear you, you know. And see you actually."

Marzanna gave a vicious grin at the diamond, "Poltergeist, Kikuoka. Poltergeist."

There was a heavy silence that was only broken by oh so _familiar_ snickering in the background. And, _oh_ , did that snickering lift her heart, with a huge grin she happily greeted her snickering cousin, "Nero! You're here too?"

His voice came out of the diamond, "Of course 'Zanna. You didn't really think I wouldn't be here to talk to you? You're pretty much my baby sister, and what kinda big brother would I be to not be here? Actually, since Kikuoka moved you to a big enough room, everyone's here."

Her grin got impossibly bigger, but before she could say anything Kikuoka cut in, "You can talk to them later, don't forget that I set all this up so I could get info from inside SAO."

Marzanna rolled her eyes, then made two chairs appear for her and Mike and flopped down, "Ya, ya. Ask your questions."

Kikuoka didn't need anymore prompting, "What floor have the players made it to now?"

"This should be our last day on the 16th floor. We're taking on the boss tomorrow."

"How are the players doing? Mentally, I mean."

"I wouldn't know details about that. For the people clearing the floors? It's mostly just single minded determination to clear the game as quickly as possible, and get as strong as they possibly can to up the chances of then being one of the players still alive when that time comes. The rest? I know depression is rather common, but that's about it. My party member, Kirito, and I don't really go to lower floors that much. Nor do we spend much time around the other floor clearers."

"Speaking of the floor clearers and their levels, what's their average level?"

"41. Like all video games, the higher the level, the longer it takes to level up. So while it still hasn't slowed to the crawl of being say level 90, it's already slowed down considerably."

"I see. What about you and your party member, Kirito you said their name was?"

"53. Though it's only that high because we do our level grinding in the labyrinth at night. Everyone else thinks we're suicidally insane for doing it, despite the results."

A pause, "Why would they think you're insane. Surely if it's clearly working, they'd want to do it too?"

Marzanna shrugged, "The mobs are already stronger in the labyrinth then they are in the field, but they become more vicious and get buffs to their stats at night. Which is why Kirito and I do it in the first place. Anything that causes the mobs to become stronger, also causes their drops, including xp, to go up proportionally. Which is why we're so much higher leveled than anyone else."

"I see. About the labyrinth, tell me about how you go about finding and beating the boss."

"Almost all of the clearers use the one we're currently on for grinding, Kirito and I are just the only ones who do it at night, but only agility parties actively map it. "

"Agility parties?"

Marzanna sighed, she had thought they would've assigned someone who was familiar with video games to be in charge of the SAO task force, but apparently not. Which meant she'd have to explain the basics to him, "There are multiple things that affect movement speed. The weight of your equipment, whether you're over encumbered, that means over the weight limit of what your avatar can carry in case you didn't know. The two biggest ones though, are a player's agility stat, and the sprinting skill. In SAO there are five attributes: Strength, Agility, Vitality, Defense, and Luck. They all have some sort of influence in almost every aspect of the game, but they each have areas they affect the most. The basic gist is this. Strength heavily affects how much damage a players attacks do, and determines a player's inventory weight limit, in other words how much they can carry. Agility affects movement speed. How quickly a player can move, and the speed of their attacks. Defense is pretty self-explanatory. Vitality pretty much _only_ effects how many hit points a player has. In a VRmmo, where you hit a mob and your strength stat almost entirely decides how much damage you do, the Luck stat however, decides if the blow is a critical hit, which generally does double damage. It also affects drop rates of items." Kikuoka have a confused sound, and she sighed again, "When you defeat a mob, which is aterm for non-player enemies, you get experience points, or xp, and item drops, or simply drops. So, say I'm fighting a mob that has a 5% base chance of dropping a rare item, the Luck stat can increase the chance of the item dropping. Understand?" Kikuoka made an agreeing hum, "Good, then back to the original topic. Agility parties are meant for speed. So, they have high agility, use light equipment, generally have almost nothing in their inventory, and usually have the sprinting skill."

A pause, "Sprinting skill? Can players not run without it or something?" another pause, "What is a skill anyway?"

This time her sigh was more aggravated, "No, they can. The sprinting skill just boosts how fast they move. The higher the skills level, the quicker they move. Technically players can do pretty much anything they want, but having the corresponding skill boosts their ability in that area, how big the boost depends on the skill level. There are three types of skills: combat based, support, and leisure skills. I can _technically_ pick up a dagger and use it immediately, but I'll get a debuff if I don't have the danger skill. Having it will not only get rid of the debuff, it'll also increase the damage I'd do with it as my skill level goes up. Players have a limited number of skill slots, which is how they choose what skills they want. Along with a corresponding skill to every type of weapon in the game, there are other combat based skills. Parry, Howl- which attracts mobs but over use causes NPCs to hate you, and Meditation- which increases the regeneration rate of HP or hit points, to name a couple. For supportive skills you have things like Weapon Forging, Armor Forging, Tailoring- which is for cloth armor like coats and cloaks, Acrobatics, Hiding, Searching, Extended Weight Limit, and the aforementioned Sprinting. In leisure you have things like Cooking, Fishing, Sewing, and Hunting."

Marzanna let that sink in for a moment, "So, it's vitally important for players to pick their skills and distribute their stat points correctly. If you want to be a tank, a player whose job is to get mobs' attention on them, you'll want high defense and hit points. So you'll probably want the Heavy Armor, Heavy Shield, and Meditation skills, along with high Vitality and Defense. Normally party balance is important, especially since SAO only allows parties of six. To get back on track, Agility parties are purposely unbalanced. Normally a party should have two tanks, or at the very least forwards who are usually a bit tanky, so they can switch with each other when one gets low on health, but tanks are slow. So in order to get through the labyrinths quicker, we send scouting parties of high Agility players to do the bulk of the mapping. They're generally players who are strong enough to deal with any mobs they encounter, but are either not good enough at combat for boss fights, or want to help clear the game, but are too scared to fight the bosses. Once they've found the boss room they take a look to get a general idea of what we're fighting. After that they report what they found to the leader of whatever guild they belong to, who then informs the other clearers. We have a meeting to figure out what type of raid party we want, what strategy would be best for that particular boss, and whether we're high enough leveled to take it on with minimal casualties. Once the boss is defeated we go to the next floor, defeat the field boss blocking the way into the next labyrinth, wash, rinse, repeat."

"Guild? I know what a guild is, but there are entire guilds dedicated to clearing floors?"

"Yes. Actually, Kirito and I are the only floor clearers that aren't in a guild. Our friend Agil used to be the other unaffiliated clearer, but he runs a shop now. Another friend of ours, Klein leads one of the front line guilds, Fuurinkazan, but you've also got the KOB- err, Knights of the Blood. There's a third led by the dumbest power hungry fool I've ever met named Kibaou, but the fucking idiot keeps saying things like 'the guild that finds the boss should just beat it on their own', so that idiot's probably going to get himself and a lot of his guild mates killed. We've all tried to tell him how stupid he's being, but he won't listen. There's also a fourth guild that's only a few floors behind us, they've been rising their levels as quickly as possible to join us, called the Divine Dragon Alliance, or DDA."

"I see. Tell me about the guilds."

It continued for a solid two hours, and she answered to the best of her ability. Eventually, he decided he'd learned enough for now, but he warned her that he'd be checking in every month, or if something major happened. Then he finally left. Her mother barely waited for the door to close behind him, "How are you doing sweetie? Do you get along with that party member of yours? Kirito? And from what I understand being in a guild is a good thing, so why aren't you two in one?"

Marzanna smiled, "I'm fine. Kirito and I get along great. We're not in a guild because we don't want to be. Though Klein offers all the time. It would be annoying, but I know he only does it because he worries about me and Kirito. Well, there are other reasons we aren't in a guild, but I don't want to get into that. What about you guys?"

Vergil snorted, "We're fine. Just focus on getting out of there."

She could practically _see_ Aunt Kat frowning at him, "We are fine, but we miss you. It'll be better when you come back."

She nodded, "Kirito and I are doing our best, just like everyone else."

Nero spoke up, "About that. Are you guys amongst the scouting group, or the boss raids?"

"Both actually. Kirito prioritizes his strength stat, but he's fast. I'm an Agility type, but I'm not weak either, so it works."

While her dad played games with her occasionally, Nero was the only actual gamer in her family except her. He hummed in thought, then asked in curiosity, "What skills do you guys have?"

Marzanna thought for a moment, "Well, players start with two skill slots, get a third at level 6, a fourth at level 12, and a fifth at level 20. After that you get one every ten levels. So being level 57 we've both got eight slots. Also we completed the quest for the only unarmed skill, Martial Arts. So we both have Martial Arts, Hiding, Searching, Extended Weight Limit, and Sprinting. Kirito also has One Handed Straight Sword, and Parry. Whereas I have Falcata, Claw, and Acrobatics."

Trish sounded curious, "Acrobatics?"

Marzanna nodded, "For better mobility." She left it at that, she wanted to know how things were outside, "I'm gonna guess that the whole SAO thing has aggravated the demons. How bad is it?"

Dante sighed, "It's not _horrible_ , but it's pretty bad. We're actually barely keeping up, and that's with the fact we're housing two other demon hunters right now."

"You're housing other demon hunters? I mean, ya we've given other Hunters sanctuary before, and occasionally let them stay until they figure out where they're going, but actually housing them? That's a first."

It was Aunt Lady who responded this time, "We needed help keeping up with the jobs, and they needed a place to stay where they could easily get to the influx of jobs in Japan, seeing as ones from France and the others from Russia. It works out."

Marzanna hummed, then glanced down and to the right. She was briefly confused the clock wasn't there, then remembered that she was in her mindscape instead of SAO. She frowned momentarily, "What time is it?"

There was a brief pause before Uncle Vergil responded, "It's 5:37. Why?"

Marzanna sighed, "I've gotta go. The sun will go down soon, so Kirito and I will be heading to the labyrinth to grind and map. He'll be waking up soon so we can go which means I gotta wake up too or he'll start worrying."

Kyrie sounded sad, "Already? And you guys sleep there?"

Marzanna nodded, "Ya. To both. Our bodies may be in a coma, but our minds aren't. If we don't sleep we become just as tired as we would in the real world, though in SAO it's actually mental exhaustion, rather than physical. There's even a hunger system in place. If players go to long without eating, we suffer a starving debuff. Similarly, if we go to long without drinking we get the dehydrated debuff. That one's even worse in desert biomes, as if you go to long without drinking, the system will generate images of things that aren't actually there. A mirage." she shook her head to get rid of that line of thought, "Anyway, that Kikuoka guy asked questions for so long I'm out of time right now."

It was her dad who responded this time, "Alright kiddo. We'll talk to you later. Stay safe."

Marzanna nodded and gave them one last smile before she faded from her mindscape.

* * *

May 2nd, 2023- 178 days since SAO launch:

Hanna and Kirito were on the twelfth floor grinding for materials. Kirito had decided that as much as he loved it, his «Coat of Midnight» wasn't up to par anymore. So they'd found a player with a reasonably high «Tailor» skill, and had enquired about getting it upgraded. The player didn't have the materials for it, so they needed to get them. On the plus side, using their own materials instead of the players would make it considerably cheaper. They could've easily afforded the full price, but cheaper pricing for the same outcome was always nice. As they were heading to the stairs to go up to the next floor, a party rounded a corner ahead of them, hurrying towards them, or rather the exit. Which was understandable since night was falling, but they were cutting it a bit close. The worrying part, was that the party was clearly unbalanced with only one forward, he was low on health, and the party had at least five mobs chasing them.

Sharing a glace with Kirito, they quickly intercepted the party, Kirito stepped toward the staff user who seemed to be the leader, "Do you guys need some help?"

The staff user stared at then wide eyed for a moment, then nodded, "It would be appreciated, but please retreat if it gets too dangerous."

Marzanna simply smiled at him, then pulled a large health potion out. As soon as Kirito switched with the parties forward, she handed the player the potion. He looked shocked for a minute, then hesitantly accepted it. She could understand his reaction. Most players only shared items like that if someone was about to die, and while his health was low, he wasn't critical just yet. After he took the potion, she stepped past him, then waited for Kirito to cause an opening with the one hit aoe stun skill «Serration Wave». Without hesitation, she darted forward with a claw skill at the ready. Three hits each from the skill to the two mobs in the front, and she jumped back to switch. Instead of Kirito as she'd expected, it was the parties' forward who attacked. He finished off the two mobs, then used a skill on the three that took their place before switching with Kirito. She frowned briefly when she saw him use another lower tiered skill. She couldn't figure out why he was holding back. He could've easily finished off the mobs if he'd used a stronger skill. She momentarily brushed the thought aside to switch with Kirito. They may be on a lower floor but it would still be dangerous to allow herself to be distracted. Still, she figured Kirito probably had a good reason for holding back, so she used a lower leveled skill to finish the three mobs off before switching with the forward again. The parties forward made quick work of the last mob.

She was taken by surprise as the party started cheering and giving each other high fives in victory. Then the only female of the party, a black haired spear user grabbed one of her hands and one of Kirito's. Though she was crying she still managed to speak coherently, "Thank you... Thank you both so much. I was really afraid... when you came to our rescue, I was really happy. I truly appreciate your help."

Glancing at Kirito she saw he had been shocked into silence, so Hanna gave her a hesitant smile, "Of course. We players need to help each other when we're in need."

The guy they though was the leader nodded at her words, "It would be disastrous if players didn't help each other, but still thank you for your assistance. It was definitely appreciated. It's getting rather late, you should come with us back to town."

Another member of the party, a claw user with light armor, "Ya! Plus, you guys should let us buy you a drink at least as thanks for helping us!"

Hanna shared a glance with Kirito. They didn't quite have the materials for Kirito's coat, but if they tried to explain that to the party it would definitely lead to them finding out they were for clearers. Hanna didn't care if they knew, but from the look in Kirito's eyes, he did. So she turned back to the party with a smile, "Thank you, we'll definitely take you up on that offer."

The members of the party all gave them warm smiles, then turned and started to head for the exit. Hanna felt a little shocked at their naivety. They didn't know her and Kirito, they could've easily been PKers tricking them. If they were, turning their backs on them would likely be the last thing this part would ever do.

Resolving to talk to the party about it when they got back she held Kirito back for a moment until they were following from a distance, "What was that about? First you hold back, then we leave without the rest of the materials? I can understand going with them to make sure they make it back safe, but you're purposely hiding the fact we're floor clearers."

Kirito glanced at her, "High leveled players causing disturbances on the lower floors is considered bad manners remember? Normally players would report it to the player's guild, and the player would only be added to the newspapers list of players with bad etiquette if it continued, and most shops won't serve such people. We aren't part of a guild though, so we'd probably just be added to the list immediately. We already have issues from people who realize we're Beaters, if we got added to the list it'd be much worse."

Hanna rolled her eyes, "I can understand not wanting to get added to the list, but you saw how those guys were acting. I'm certain they're not going to report us for saving them."

Kirito hesitated, "But-" She glanced at him, then gave a pointed look at the female in the group ahead of them. He sighed, then relented, "Alright, we'll be honest with them."

She smiled at him then bumped his shoulder with her own when she saw he still looked uncertain, "Come on, don't be like that. Even if they do report us for some reason, it wouldn't be to as horrible as you seen to think. We already get all our items from either Argo, Agil, or grinding. If the tailor says anything about it when we go back we can just explain the situation to her, she knew we were coming to this floor today, so she'll probably believe us. We don't have to worry about getting new weapons for a while, and we use NPC Smith's to repair them, so it likely won't be an issue either. Even if it does end up being a problem, if push comes to shove we can have Argo acquire stuff from shops for us. She'll want a fee of course, but since she'd just be going shopping she won't ask for much."

He sighed, then smiled lightly at her, "You're right. Besides, we might even be able to go to the players that publish the paper and explain our side of the story. If we get added to the list, maybe if we explain what happened to them they'd be willing to remove us in the next issue. I just-"

He cut off, looking away with a sigh. She gave him a teasing grin, "Your just a worrywart is what you are." She paused as he stared at her with an embarrassed flush, then grinned as she remembered what Argo had told them last time they saw her, "Maybe instead of calling you Kirito The Black Swordsman the players should call you Kirito The Worrywart. I'm sure Argo would find it hilarious, I'll have to tell her next time I see her."

He flushed redder then her mother's hair, "Oi! I'm not a worrywart! I just like to take into consideration all possible outcomes. And don't you dare tell Argo, I'd never live it down."

She grinned devilishly, "I know." He gave her a pleading puppy eyed look and she almost wanted to pout. She was just messing with him, but even if she'd been serious about telling Argo she knew she wouldn't have been able to say no to that face. She rolled her eyes at him, "I'm just messing with you. Relax Kirito, I'm not gonna tell Argo." Kirito did in fact relax at get words. Feeling slightly put out after realizing she couldn't say no even if she wanted to, she decided to add on, "But I might tell Klein!"

She briefly took in his look of horror, then darted off before he could use the puppy eyes again. Behind her Kirito started to chase after her, "Get back here you minx!"

She laughed at him and speed up. Though since part of the reason they were going with the party was to keep them safe, instead of just running off she led Kirito in circles around the group. She was startled when the party started laughing at her and Kirito. If they'd done this around anyone in the clearing group, they definitely would've gotten angry at them messing around. She couldn't stop her grin from stretching wider at their laughter even if she wanted to.

Eventually Kirito caught her, which wasn't too surprising. She may be faster than him, but she wasn't going as fast as she could. Still, she'd thought he'd still been a bit behind her, so when she was abruptly grabbed by her waist she led out a startled yelp. Looking back she saw Kirito giving her a mock glare, "Think you're so funny don't you?"

She grinned impishly at him, "Yup!"

He pretended to glare for a moment then plastered on a thoughtful expression, "Hmm. I wonder if people are ticklish in SAO?"

She gaped for a moment, "Don't you dare! I'll-"

She was cut off as Kirito grinned evilly then started ticking her. Apparently her avatar was ticklish, as she couldn't stop herself from laughing wildly. Between laughs she gasped out, "Stop!- Stop!- I- I give!"

Kirito finally stopped tickling her. He gave her a fake haughty look, "Let that be a lesson to you not to make fun of me."

Catching her breath she grinned, "You know you would've looked like a complete idiot if my avatar wasn't ticklish, right?"

He snorted, "Why do you think I waited till we were behind the group to catch you?"

There was a giggle off to the side, and they both turned to realize they were holding up the party, who were all watching them in amusement. It was Sachi who'd giggled, and the girl looked like she was trying to stop herself from laughing more. Kirito hastily let go of her, then gave them a sheepish look, "Ah, sorry for lagging behind."

The leader shook his head, a grin stretching his lips, "Don't worry about it, let's just get moving."

Once they'd made it back to town the party, which actually seemed to be a guild called the «Moonlit Black Cats» led them to a tavern. Despite her and Kirito protesting it, the guild bought some wine that players of their level would find expensive. They thanked them again for saving them, then excitedly talked for a few minutes. When things calmed down a bit the leader, who had finally introduced himself as Keita, quietly asked them about their levels.

Hanna paused in taking a sip from her glass, then shrugged. Opening her window she went to the player stats window, then made it viewable to others before sliding the window over for Keita to look. When he looked down he blinked for a few moments, then rubbed his eyes as though wondering if it was a trick of the light or something. Once he apparently concluded that it wasn't, he gaped at the window for a minute then loudly burst out in shock, "You're level 54?!"

At his exclamation all the players in the tavern went silent in an instant, and the rest of the Black Cats gaped at them. There was quite for a minute then awed whispers about them being front liners broke out from the surrounding players. Keita seemed to regain his composer, "If you guys are front liners, why are you guys on this floor?"

Hanna closed her window before anyone else could see anything on it, then nodded at Kirito, "He needed to upgrade his coat, but the tailor we went to didn't have the materials for it. This floor has most of the materials we need."

Keita nodded in understanding, then chuckled, "I thought you guys were strong when I saw you guys fighting, but I didn't think you were _that_ strong."

Hanna grinned lightly, "Actually, Kirito here was worried you guys would report us to the paper for causing a commotion on a lower leveled floor, so we were holding back considerably in the fight."

The girl gasped, "That was you guys holding back? You must be very skilled. I mean, not just your levels, but actual skill." Then she tilted her head in confusion, "We'd never report someone that was just trying to help, but if you held back because of that, then why are you telling us now?"

Hanna laughed lightly, "Ah, I didn't know why we were holding back til after the fight. I just followed Kirito's lead and adjusted my skill to a similar level that he was displaying. That's actually what led to him ticking me earlier, I was teasing him for worrying about you reporting us." Then she paused as she remember what she'd been thinking about earlier, "Speaking of what happened in the labyrinth, you guys probably shouldn't be so trusting."

Sachi frowned, "Are you saying we shouldn't have accepted your help? But-"

Kirito shook his head, knowing what Hanna had been talking about, "No. She's talking about how you all turned your backs to us after the fight. Much as I hate to say it, you can't trust other players so easily. It was fine this time since it was me and Hanna, but it could've been a couple of PKers trying to let your guard down. If that was the case, you all could've died before you even had a chance to fight back."

All of them stiffened, and stared at them with wide eyes, then Keita let out a shuddering breath, "You're right, we shouldn't have been so careless. Thank you for pointing this out before something bad had a chance to happen to us."

Ducker grinned playfully, "Got any other sage advice for us, oh wise front liners?"

It was obvious he was joking but Kirito leaned forward anyway, "Your party's way unbalanced. You need a second forward."

Keita sighed, "Ya, we know. We've actually been planning to get Sachi to become a forward."

Hanna caught the flash of terror in the girl's eyes before she closed her eyes and smiled to cover it up, "Don't. Don't lie to your party members, your friends, like that Sachi. I don't know why you're hiding it, but if you become a forward and freeze up, you could get not only yourself, but your friends killed as well."

Sachi stared at her wide eyed, then lowered her head with tears in her eyes. The other members of the Black Cats looked confused, so Keita turned to Sachi, "What's she talking about? Sachi?"

Sachi sniffed a bit, "I-" She swallowed thickly then looked up, seeing the sympathetic but hard look in Hanna's eyes, she forced herself to continue, "I don't want to be a forward. The idea of being at the front of the fighting terrifies me. To be honest I didn't even what to leave the starting city I was so scared, but Keita-kun let me stay near the back as a spear user, so I was mostly ok. That's-" She had to take a deep breath before she could continue, "That's why I keep running off, because I just can't- I can't-" Keita pulled her into a hug shushing her. Sachi was now outright crying, but she still managed to choke out, "I- I'm sorry. I-"

Keita started running his fingers through her hair, "Ssh. It's alright. You don't need to apologize." He continued to sooth her for a few minutes until she calmed down. Then without releasing her, he leaned back until he could see her face, "Sachi, why didn't you just tell me? I never would've pushed you if I'd known. Either I or Sasamaru can become the forward instead and you can stay in the back."

Sachi rubbed at her eyes, "I- I was embarrassed. No one else in the party seemed too scared, but I was nearly petrified in fear."

Ducker cut in at this point, "Of course we're scared Sachi. Everyone's scared. It's just a matter of controlling your fear rather than letting it control you. If you don't think you can conquer your fear alone, well that's what friends are for, to help you."

Sachi sniffed, "Ok. Then, I'll rely on you guys until I can control my fear myself."

Keita smiled, "Good. We'll be brave for you, Ok?"

Hanna hummed, "Bravery is not the absence of fear. It is doing what you must despite fear."

Kirito nodded in agreement with a smile. Sachi stared at then for a moment then nodded with a determined expression, "Then I'll do my best to be brave."

Hanna smiled at her, "You're already brave." Seeing Sachi's confusion, she elaborated, "There are still three thousand players hiding in the starting city to scared to leave. You didn't want to either, but you left to go fight anyway, because you wanted to stay with your friends. So you're already braver than three thousand people, some of which are adults. It may not feel like you're brave, but that's an accomplishment. One that's nothing to laugh at either. Just do your best Sachi, no one needs you to become one of the strongest players. You just need to keep up with your friends."

Sachi stared at her wide eyed, then the determination came back, stronger than ever and she nodded firmly.

Keita smiled, then glanced away, "Well, we wanted to become strong enough to join the front lines, but it's more important that we don't push Sachi."

Sachi immediately started to protest, not wanting to hold everyone back, but Kirito cut across her, "Well, you guys could still join the front lines. I'm going to assume that you three spear users and Ducker all have a rather high agility?" They nodded, so he continued, "In that case you could change your forward to a light weight class forward and become one of the agility parties that scouts the labyrinth. You'd still need a second forward, but go with something light weight. You'd still need to do a lot of leveling to be able to fight the mobs in the front line labyrinths, but the only time you guys would see the boss is when you took a look to report what we're up against."

Keita glanced at Sachi and the parties forward, who still hadn't introduced himself, "What do you think? Sachi? Tetsuo?"

Tetsuo, the forward, nodded, "Ya, I could do that. I mean, I'm not sure what weapon I'd switch to just yet, but we can figure that out later."

Sachi smiled, "Well, we've been fighting in the labyrinths and I've been fine. As long as I don't have to become a forward, then yes I could handle that."

Keita nodded with a smile, then turned to them, "Well, we've still got a while before we're strong enough, but I think we'll do that."

Hanna shifted then glanced at Kirito, "Wasn't Asuna made the second in command recently?" Kirito gave her a confused look, but nodded, "Another party mapping the labyrinths would be helpful, she might be able to convince Heathcliff to lend them a trainer to get them up to par."

Kirito grinned, "Ya, it couldn't hurt to ask."

Keita gaped at them, "You guys know Lightning Flash Asuna personally? I mean I know you're front liners, but-"

Hanna smiled, "Don't let her hear you call her that, she gets very embarrassed by it, but ya, she's an... acquaintance. The KOB has been growing rapidly, so she might lend us one person to help you guys out."

Ducker looked hopeful, "Really? You think so?"

Kirito nodded with a smile, and the five immediately started letting out happy exclamations. It wasn't long before the guild was excitedly chattering to each other, and Hanna shared a smile with Kirito. The front liners were all so serious, but this guild was a lively bunch. Maybe them being around would get the others to lighten up a bit. Hanna and Kirito let the joyful chatter wash over them, both content with the way things turned out.


	13. Breaking Point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I get that it was a milestone and everything, but the 25th floor was harsh. I'm not joking, the setting of the floor described in the first paragraph is actually the canon setting of the floor. I was half tempted to call this chapter 'When Hanna Flips Her Shit' but decided not to. Also, An error is occurring with reviews on ff.net. I can see the review count going up, but the reviews aren't showing when I clicked the tab. It's aggravating my anxiety, especially since I always automatically assume the worst. From what I've read on the forums, most people can still see the reviews in their emails as long as they aren't too long, but I have a bad tendency to manually check the reviews myself, so I turned this option off in my settings. Which means I have no idea what the first two reviews on the last chapter said, because I only changed my settings back after I found out about the problem. Which is why your getting this chapter as now. After I posted chapter 11 I got struck by inspiration and wrote up some more chapters (I just started 15) so I figured since I had a bit of a head start, I'd see if I could stay on top of it and do weekly updates. But my anxiety is getting to me with the review issue, so your getting this chapter now.

July 7th 2023- 244 days since SAO launch:

Kirito sighed as Hanna finished of the last mob. They'd finally made it to the 25th floor, a quarter of the way to their goal, but it came with a drawback. Apparently Kayaba decided that the way to respond to the players reaching such a milestone was to up the difficulty. The 25th floors mobs were much stronger than those of the previous floors, and if that wasn't bad enough, the topography of the floor was as complex as a maze, and it was filled with traps. The most common trap was a pitfall that led to poisonous swamps. All in all, it was a complete pain. Normally he liked fighting, but this floor had robbed him of his usual enjoyment. It was so difficult to navigate, that despite the fact they'd been on the floor for three days they still hadn't even reached the labyrinth and defeated the field boss guarding it.

He eyed the labyrinth, which at this point was so close it took up a large portion of his field of view when he looked up, _'At this rate, we should reach it within two hours. Hopefully the mini-boss hasn't been made so strong that Hanna and I can't defeat it on our own. If it comes to it, we may have to teleport out.'_

Thankfully, they'd already spoken of this. If the mini-boss made them teleport out, they'd gather Asuna, Diabel, and Fuurinkazan to help them beat it. They'd activated a feature that all players had on the map tab of their menus, the feature tracked the route a player took. So it'd be much quicker to get back to the field boss since they'd already have a safe, trap free route planned out.

Kirito had been slightly off, it was roughly two and a half hours later that they reached the labyrinth and the field boss guarding it. The field boss turned out to be a massive snake with strange needle like spikes jutting out from between its scales. It had three health bars with its name above them, «Nagashree». Hanna took point as she was faster. She immediately opened with twelve hits before the mini-boss had a chance to retaliate, then switched with him when Nagashree lunged for her. He was quick to hit it with a three hit skill «Sharp Nail», then switched with Hanna before the skill cool down kicked in. Hanna slashed at it five times, hit it with Ember Song, then switched again. He hit it with seven regular attacks, then let Hanna take over again.

Hanna slashed at Nagashree three times, sidestep an attack, then land five more followed by the claw skill, Lions Fury. Switching with her for a moment he hit it with the heavy damage Horizontal Square, and skill chained it with a Martial Arts uppercut punch, then finished his chain with Vertical Square. He jumped back when the boss's spikes began moving. A quick glance at its health bars showed that their heavy combo had reduced it into the yellow of its second bar. A tactic change then.

He didn't get any further down that line of thought as at that moment Hanna tackled him. He briefly saw the boss launch spikes everywhere before they landed behind a rock, and less than a second later a bunch of loud 'thunk's rung out. Lifting himself enough to see over the rock, he paled as he saw that the snake's spikes were now embedded in everything around it.

Still studying the destruction to see if there were any blank spots in the attack, he didn't look back even as he spoke to Hanna, "Thanks. I have no idea how much damage one of those spikes does, but considering how many it launches we'd probably get hit by a lot more than just one if we're in the open when it attacks."

He could hear Hanna open her menu as she calmly replied, "They don't do much damage, but they're poisonous."

He blinked in confusion for a brief moment, wondering how she could know that, then whirled around as understanding washed over him. Sure enough, Hanna had three needles going straight through her legs, two in her right which had been closer to the boss, and one in her left. He immediately felt guilty. He knew without any doubt that Hanna could've taken cover quick enough to not get hit at all if she hadn't been busy saving him. She didn't seem the slightest bit concerned about it even as she pulled health and antidote potions from her inventory, pulled the spikes out of her legs, then downed the potions.

At that point she turned to him. He wondered what she saw in his expression. Whatever it was it made her go wide eyed for a second, then smile reassuringly at him, "Don't worry so much. They don't do much damage, and while the poison is rather bad, our high levels give us enough health that we have plenty of time to take an antidote potion and let it kick in. Plus, we can't feel pain remember? It doesn't hurt." He wasn't really reassured, and it must have shown because she sighed, "Anyway, we should pull some antidote and health potions out of our inventories and put them in our pockets for quick access just to be safe."

He hesitated, still a bit hung up on her getting poisoned because of him, but she gave him a stern look so he dropped it. After putting some potions in their pockets they quickly went back to the boss. Hanna didn't hesitate to hit it with the falcata skill «Primal Dance», then skill chained it with the heavy damage claw skill «Dragons Wrath». He switched with her before her cool down kicked in, hitting it with nine quick slashes, then jumping back. Before Hanna had a chance to attack the mini-boss's spikes moved again in preparation to launch. Hanna scowled, then slashed at hit six times, shifted her weight, then attacked it with four more hits. From the way the boss froze up, he knew she'd done a manual skill switch.

He switched with her and chained five skills together, three heavy damage sword skills with two Martial Arts skills in between to buy him enough time to charge the next skill with his sword. He changed places with Hanna just as the snake unfroze. It immediately focused on Hanna and lunged for her. Hanna jumped over the attack. Landing on the snakes head she started wildly attacking. The snake began to thrash around trying to dislodge her. For a moment it didn't work as Hanna had grabbed onto it, but then it reared its head back throwing her straight up. Hanna twisted in midair, throwing her falcata at its head, where half the sword sunk in. Turning so she was feet first, Hanna landed straight on her swords hilt driving it all the way in. The boss froze for a moment then shattered. Hanna flipped around as she fell scooping her sword up in the process and landed on her feet easily.

Kirito stared at Hanna. He loved fighting, and he was definitely the type of person who enjoyed seeing displays of skill from other people. Hanna displayed amazing skill almost constantly. While it may not always be flashy, the fact that he rarely saw her HP drop into the yellow spoke volumes in and of itself. He'd also realized he had a crush on her a couple months ago, but he never acted on it. He knew Hanna didn't reciprocate his feelings. Even though occasionally they had what others might consider a moment, like on New Year's, most of the time when they found themselves in that type of situation, Hanna would scowl fiercely. It hurt. It hurt like hell to know she disliked the prospect of a relationship of that nature with him so much, but he'd respect her boundaries. He would never try and force a relationship with someone, especially when they clearly didn't want it.

Still even with all that said, he couldn't help but admire the image she made in that moment. Sword in hand with the millions of polygons from the field boss drifting around her, he thought she looked more beautiful than ever before. A by now familiar longing filled him, but he quickly pushed it aside when she sheathed her sword and turned to him. He didn't trust himself to be able to keep it from showing on his face, and the last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable.

He grinned at her, "Just had to try and outdo my punching a dragon huh?"

She grinned back, "But of course. I can't let you show me up. It's simply not allowed."

He laughed, then they turned their attention to the widows congratulating them on beating Nagashree and telling them what was dropped. It was mostly stranded stuff, though there was a some pretty high leveled poison. Since neither of them used poison it was quickly decided that they'd just have Argo find a good buyer for it or sell it to Agil.

As they finally entered the labyrinth Kirito shifted to slightly more serious matters, "Do you want to send the map data with the safe route to Asuna or should I?"

Hanna shrugged, "I will I suppose. Hold up a minute, I want to do that now. The sooner we have agility parties mapping the dungeon the sooner we can move onto the next floor."

He nodded then kept watch for any mobs while she sent the data to Asuna and informed her of the mini-boss's defeat. Asuna responded before Hanna even had a chance to close her menu, thanking them for the data and telling them that she'd spread it around immediately.

Hanna shared a grin with Kirito, "Always so prompt isn't she?"

Kirito nodded, then glanced around as though looking for people who might over hear, then stage whispered in a conspiratorial manner, "Don't tell anyone I said this since it's a major secret, but I think she might be a workaholic."

Hanna laughed wildly at that, when she finally had herself under control she gasped out, "If that's a secret it's the worst kept secret ever!"

He gave her a mock grave look, "Shush you. It's a secret to everyone."

She collapsed into laughter again, which Kirito soon joined. He smiled at her as they finally calmed down. Again that feeling of longing began to well up, but he pushed it away again. He was content to just be Hanna's friend. He'd have to be, seeing as that's all he'd ever be to her.

* * *

Hanna frowned. They'd been in the labyrinth for six hours, and she didn't like what she was seeing so far. Something about this labyrinth was different. It had a far more intricate appearance than any of the other labyrinths so far, and something about it made it seem more dangerous to her. Sure the labyrinths had been slowly becoming more... elegant she supposed she could say even though it wasn't quite accurate, but it had been a gradual change. This one however, was noticeably more elaborate.

Currently Hanna and Kirito were resting in the safe zone, as the brutality of the dungeon was quickly eating through their HP, and therefore their health potions. Kirito must have noticed something in her expression, because he reached over and squeezed her shoulder, "Hey, I don't know what you're worrying about now, but it'll be alright."

She shook her head, "There's something off about this labyrinth. Haven't you noticed? Its design is more... sophisticated than the ones we've been to before. Not to mention the mobs are far more brutal than even the ones in previous dungeons were. I just- I don't like it. There's something wrong this time."

Kirito frowned, then hesitantly asked, "Do you want to sit this one out? If it's really bothering you that much we can."

Hanna hesitated for a moment contemplating it then shook her head, "No, its fine just... we need to be more careful in this one, and let's not grind here at night."

Kirito searched her expression for a minute, then slowly nodded, "Alright, if you're sure. And considering how badly this dungeons is during the day, I was going to suggest we stay out of this one at night anyway." He leaned his head back against the wall with a sigh, "This floor is going to suck, isn't it?"

Hanna snorted, "It already does, and we're _still_ on the first floor of the labyrinth. It's only gonna get worse from here."

Kirito huffs, "Don't remind me."

Hanna chuckled, but didn't mention any more of her worries about this labyrinth. Kirito worried enough without her adding to it. Besides, since he worried so much he'd probably already thought of all of her worries.

* * *

July 13th 2023- 250 days since SAO launch:

Hanna and Kirito were eating dinner after a day in the labyrinth when Diabel burst into the inn. As soon as he spot them he hurried over with a grave expression. Hanna shared a glance with Kirito, "Diabel? What's wrong?"

Diabel sat down next to her with a scowl, "Kibaou." Hanna scowled and Kirito looked like he was expecting the worse, she motioned for Diabel to continue, "That idiot found the boss room today. Guess what he did."

Kirito sounded pained, "Pease tell me he did not try to take on the boss with just his guild."

Diabel scowled, "Sorry, but he took on the boss with just his guild."

Hanna sighed heavily, "How bad was it?"

Diabel growled in frustration, "As you know he has 53 people in his guild. There are now only 16 people in his guild including himself. He didn't even beat the boss. They were forced to retreat."

Thirty seven. 37 people dead because Kibaou was a stupid idiot who wouldn't listen. How many times had he been warned that his actions would lead to death? How many times had they warned him to be more cautious? He wouldn't listen though, and now 37 people were dead.

She had no doubt that Kikuoka would be collecting Mike to speak with her soon. So with a sigh she pushed her food away, "Well, I've lost my appetite. I'm gonna go up to our room and try to get some sleep."

Kirito nodded tiredly, "Alright. I'll be up soon, I wanna talk to Diabel."

She nodded, and Diabel moved so she could get out of the booth, "Goodnight Hanna-chan."

She nodded at him, "Night Diabel."

She had just barely made it to her room when she felt Mike enter her mind. Quickly requipping into her casual clothes, she climbed into bed and entered her mind. She immediately found herself face to face with Mike. Neither of them had a chance to say anything before Kikuoka's voice came through the little black diamond, "What happened?"

She sighed heavily looking away, "Do you remember what I said about that guy called Kibaou? How he was always going on about the guild who finds the boss beating it on their own? His guild was the one to find the boss room today. He only took his own guild in, which has- which _had_ 53 people in it. The boss forced them to retreat after 37 people died. I don't know anything more about it, as I found out less than ten minutes ago."

She figured Kikuoka had contacted her parents and had them retrieve Mike for him, and it was understandable that someone would accompany Mike to see what was going on. As such she wasn't surprised when she heard Uncle Vergil speak up, "37 people dead because of one person's stupidity. I guess it's true. It's easier to lead people to their deaths than it is to save them."

Marzanna sighed, "The casualties may not have been so bad if it had been any other floor, but it just had to be _this_ floor that he reached the boss room first."

Kikuoka sounded keenly interested, "What do you mean? What's so special about this floor? What floor are you on anyway?"

She sighed again, "We're on the 25th floor. Being the quarter milestone, Kayaba made it much harder than the previous floors. Though we won't know whether or not the difficulty spike is limited to this floor or whether the difficulty will drop until we make it to the next floor. The problem is that this floor is so difficult that process is slow."

Nero chose that moment to speak up, though there was something off about his voice, "How much have you guys slowed down?"

Marzanna glanced away, "We've already been on this floor for nine days, but the boss room was only found today. Hell, it took us three days just to reach the labyrinth and defeat the field boss guarding it."

Kikuoka sounded incredulous, "Three days just to reach the labyrinth? Surely it isn't that difficult."

She glared at the diamond, "You try navigating a massive area with a radius of roughly 2 kilometers that has typography that's so convoluted that it's practically a maze, that's full of traps the most common of which is a pitfall that dumps you in a poisonous swamp, and to top it all off is filled to the brim with various monsters that try very hard to rip your head off. And that's even before we get to the labyrinth itself, which is even worse! The mobs of the 25th floor are as strong as the mobs were in the previous labyrinth, and the monsters that are actually _in_ the labyrinth itself are as strong as monsters from the previous labyrinth at _night_. That's during the day! Even Kirito and I aren't crazy enough to fight in _this_ labyrinth at night. Even before Kibaou's disaster nine people died just trying to find a safe path to the labyrinth, and an additional sixteen have died mapping it since then. So fuck you, and fuck your god damn disbelief, neither I nor the other floor clearers answer to you jackass."

There was a heavy silence for a minute then her dad's voice gently cut in, "Kiddo, I won't try and tell you that I understand your frustration or your anger, as I've never been in a situation like yours, but getting angry at Kikuoka isn't going to help anything. He's only doing his job."

She looked away with a scowl, "I know that, but he's not here. He doesn't know a damn thing, so he has no right whatsoever to question the floor clearers."

When Kikuoka spoke it was with delicacy, obviously not wanting to provoke her temper again, "In case you've forgotten, that's why I've been meeting with you in the first place, so that I can understand what's going on in there."

Marzanna growled, "I _could_ tell you all about it. We could sit here for days on end as I described it, but you'll never _understand_. Not really. You can't understand what it's like to be playing a video game one minute and in the next be told that you're trapped in a death game. You can't understand what it's like to be unable to do a god damn thing while someone's hit points, their **life** literally drains before your eyes, or the expression of terror that appears on their faces at the last second as they realize their dead. You can't understand anything Kikuoka. You're incapable of it, because you're not here."

The following silence was deafening. Eventually though Kyrie, whose voice was off like Nero's, hesitantly spoke up, "What- What do you mean unable to do anything? I mean, I don't play games, but I've seen you and Nero play them plenty of times. Aren't their usually health items? Can't you use those to save other people? Or was Kayaba really so cruel as to make it so that health items only work on the player they belong to?"

Marzanna sighed tiredly, incapable of being mad at Kyrie, "There are health items, and you can use them on other players. There are two types of health items. Potions and Crystals. Health potions restore a specific amount of health. Health crystals on the other hand, fully restore health, no matter how low you are. In either case, you can mildly cheat the system if you administer them before the system finishes draining a player's health even if they're at zero. Though in the case of potions it has to be enough to bring them above zero to save them. The system only shows a players health going _to_ zero, but it calculates **exactly** how much damage every hit does, even if it technically puts the player in the negative. The problem is that crystals are rare at this point in the game. They'll likely become far more common on later levels, but at this point they're so rare that the general rule is to save them for absolute emergencies in your own party or yourself. Even worse while crystals may restore health instantly, potions take a few seconds to kick in and restore health over a period of ten seconds. Which means if you give someone whose health is rapidly draining in front of you a potion, you won't know if it's enough to save then till it's too late to use a crystal. As if that wasn't bad enough, there's a particular type of trap called the Anti-Crystal Area, as its name implies, you literally **can't** use crystals in those areas. 95% of the time it doesn't matter, as using a large health potion is enough, but sometimes- sometimes it isn't."

Vergil sounded tense, "So it's either a guessing game, or a calculation if you know enough about what you're facing. Do you use a health potion and risk it not being enough? Or do you use a crystal and risk either yourself or your party member dying later because you didn't have anymore crystals?"

Marzanna nodded in a depressed manner. If she had the resources, she'd use crystals anytime someone was dying on front of her, but she only had one of the two crystals from New Year's, having used the other on Klein during the last boss fight. Kirito still had both of his, but with only three between them, they couldn't afford to be generous with them. So she could do nothing but use potions and hope they were enough.

Not liking the dark serious nature of both the conversation and her thoughts, she quickly tried to distract herself, "Hey, is there something wrong with the device you guys have been speaking to me with? Nero and Kyrie's voices sounded strange."

From his tone Uncle Vergil knew exactly what she was doing, but he answered her anyway, "It has nothing to do with the device. I was the only one who actually came with Mike, everyone else is actually on speakerphone. More importantly, you look exhausted. Are you alright?"

Marzanna shrugged, "I guess it's too be expected. You're seeing into my mind with that device. This floor is mentally exhausting, seeing as the me you're seeing is a mental representation of me, it makes sense that the exhaustion shows."

Dante hummed, "Well, I can't see you since I'm on the other side of the call, but if it's that exhausting you should go and get some sleep. You've gotten the answers you were looking for, didn't you Kikuoka?" He made an agreeing sound, so Dante continued, "Well then, there's nothing else to it. Go get some rest kiddo, we'll talk to you later."

Marzanna snorted, "Gladly. I love you guys. Talk to you later."

With that said, Marzanna faded straight from her mindscape into sleep.

* * *

July 16th 2023- 253 days since SAO launch:

Hanna tensely walked with Kirito towards the boss room. Today was the raid. As disastrous as Kibaou's attempt to beat the boss had been, at least _one_ good thing had come of it. They didn't just have a vague idea of what it did, they knew its attack patterns, at least until it got into the red on the first of its left health bars. It had five health bars in total, and changed tactics at least once, though they all had a suspicion that it changed five times considering how this floor had been going so far. The boss was a two headed giant, the right head had three of its health bars and was called «Nangir». Whereas the left head had the other two health bars and was named «Bluzkos». The system decided which head you did damage to by where you hit it. Hitting the right side of its body hurt «Nangir», hitting the left damaged «Bluzkos».

Apparently Kibaou's guild had been struggling even before they knocked Bluzkos into the red of his first bar, they were forced to retreat less than five minutes later.

Even with more information than usual, Hanna was nervous about this boss fight. As the raid party reached the boss doors, Heathcliff, the commander of the Knights of the Blood, called for a half hour break, telling everyone to **_thoroughly_** check their equipment for this particular fight. She didn't bother, and neither did Kirito. With how much of a worrier he was, Kirito did it every night before they faced a boss, and he made sure she did as well. As such, they both knew the exact status of their equipment.

For a while she stood with Kirito as the clicks of players slowly navigating their menus filed the tense silence. Then Kirito gently put a hand on her shoulder, murmuring quietly enough that no one else would hear despite the silence, "Hey, relax. I can't promise you it won't be bad, but being tense isn't going to help."

She turned to him, "That's- I can't-" She shook her head and stared at him for a minute before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him, then buried her face in his neck, "I'm scared, but not for myself. I'm scared for everyone else. I'm scared for Klein and Fuurinkazan. I'm scared for Asuna and the Knights of the Blood. I'm scared for the Divine Dragon Alliance. But most of all, I'm scared for you. I honestly don't know what I'd do if something happened to you. If you left me alone I- I-"

She cut off as her eyes teared up, unable to continue. It was selfish she knew, but it was the possibility of losing Kirito that scared her the most. Normally she wasn't one to worry so much, but this floor had been mentally draining, and it was definitely affecting her.

Kirito stiffened in shock momentarily, then gently wrapped one arm around her waist. He started carding the fingers of his other hand through her hair soothingly, "Nothing's going to happen to me. I won't leave you alone, I promise." Hanna shook her head. So he stopped running his fingers through her hair, and gently cupped her cheek then tilted her head up. Upon seeing her teary eyes, he jolted then his own eyes softened, "I mean it. I won't leave, **_ever_** , I swear."

Even though she logically knew there was no way he could guarantee being able to keep that promise, something in his eyes made her believe him. So she nodded slowly. He smiled reassuringly, then gently wiped the unshed tears from her eyes.

Kirito opened his mouth to say something else, but he was cut off by Heathcliff, "Alright. Half hour is up. You all know the plan and your individual parts in it. Let's go."

Kirito gave her one last reassuring look, then let her go and stepped away. Taking a shuddering breath, Hanna turned towards the boss room and forced herself to focus on the task at hand. Drawing her sword in preparation, she saw Kirito do the same out of the corner of her eye. They were one of the parties focused on damage dealing this time. They were to wait until the tanks got the boss' attention, then circle around to its left and focus on Bluzkos' health. The Fuurinkazan were taking its right side, and Asuna was leading one of the parties circling around to its back.

When Heathcliff opened the door, she and Kirito rushed in, then over to the left side of the boss room to wait for the tanks to do their job. The boss was sitting on the ground, but got up as the torches around the room lit. It was exactly what you'd expect from a giant in video games, a massive ugly humanoid. Though unlike giants in other games, the boss was wearing armor, plate mail from the looks of it. There were also two swords on its back, the hilts jutting over its shoulders. Along with that, there were also Flails(1) on its belt with their handles in holsters, and the ball and chains allowed to dangle.

The boss' health bars and names soon appeared, and the tanks were quick to move forward. Once they had its attention, she and Kirito approached the boss' left side, and immediately began attacking together. For now, the boss was just attacking with its bare hands, they knew that when Bluzkos, and likely Nangir's from the look of it, first bar when into the red, it would draw one of the swords from its back, but though they didn't know anything of its tactics after. Hanna guessed that once their second bar went red, they'd discard the sword and grab the Flail.

Half an hour later, Hanna's assumption proved true. With Nangir's second bar in the red, it threw its sword away and pulled one of the Flails from its waist. Its first swing sent three players flying. Hanna rushed to the one of them as one of Klein's guildmates and Kirito went to the other. As she ran she sheathed her sword, and pulled a large health potion from her pocket, then pulled the lid off. As soon as she reached the player she handed him the potion, which he drank without hesitation. He looked up at his health, and a moment later a look of terror took over his face. He turned to her frantically, but didn't get a chance to say anything before exploding into polygons. She stared at the spot he'd been in horror.

For a few moments she stayed frozen there, then Kirito's voice cut through the horror clouding get mind, "Hanna! Move!"

She jolted and turned just to see the spiked ball of the Flail coming for her. Diving out of the way, the ball crashed into the pillar she'd been crouching in front of. She watched the fight for a few moments. Despite all of their preparation they were still losing, and badly. Clutching her fists tightly in fury she looked away, then blinked rapidly when her eyes landed on Nangir's sword a few feet away. It was strange, usually when a boss discarded a weapon to change tactics the weapon disappeared within moments. Her eyes narrowed then she glanced between the boss and the weapon.

_'Fuck it.'_ With that thought Hanna moved over to the sword and attempted to pick it up. Though still heavy, it wasn't nearly as heavy as she'd thought it be. The hilt of the sword alone was the same height as her from the waist up, and the blade was three times the length of its hilt. She wasn't that far from the fighting so she only took five steps forward, then swung her acquired weapon at the boss, only pausing to aim it high enough so as to not hit the other players.

The boss staggered back, and an sixteenth of one of its bars from each head drained with the one blow, then it turned its attention to her. With a roar it jumped over the other players towards her, but she was already swinging again, the attack hit the boss the moment it landed, "Enough! I've had enough of you and this floors fucking bullshit! Fuck you! Fuck your god damn floor with its god forsaken poisonous swaps. Fuck your stronger mobs! Fuck your stupid labyrinth with its upped difficulty! Fuck all of it!"

The boss tried to retaliate, but while it took her a bit to fully swing the massive sword, the blows were heavy enough that every single one of them staggered the boss, and by the time it recovered she was already swinging again. With her last exclamation she swung at its legs, cutting them both off just below the knees. The boss dropped its weapons and fell to its hands and knees, but she continued her relentless assault. Then with a final scream of fury, she brought the blade down right between its heads, cleaving it in two. The boss froze what little moment it had been doing then shattered into millions of polygons. With the boss out of the way it revealed the other players to her, and every single one of them except Kirito were gaping at her in shock.

Kirito crossed his arms then nodded as he gave his sage opinion, "Owned."

Hanna turned to Kirito. Upon realizing what she'd done, she opened her mouth to apologize for losing her temper when she was cut off by the fanfare ringing out as the 'Congratulations!' banner appeared above where the boss had been, and the other front liners cheering in victory. Simultaneously, the window with her drops appeared in front of her as the sword disappeared.

Seeing Kirito turn his attention to his own window, she followed suit. The first was a widow she'd never seen before, it read: 'Congratulations! For meeting the requirements of the hidden challenge, you get:

Blade of Giants.'

She stared at the window for a moment. The sword had been a straight sword, and the giant had wielded it one handed. So, since the blade in her inventory would certainly be smaller than when she'd picked it up, it would definitely go to Kirito. Closing that window she moved onto the last attack bonus window, but it turned out to be plate mail chest piece. It was useless to her and Kirito, since they both preferred light armor, but it would probably fetch a nice price. Closing that window she came to the standard window listing the drops she got for fighting the boss. The xp and col were much higher than usual, and the drops seemed better, but since drops were random and xp and col were distributed evenly between everyone who participated in the boss raid, she figured it was due to the increased difficulty.

Closing that window, she quickly navigated her menu to the sword she just got. Its stats were incredible, but it also had a high strength requirement. Considering she just barely made the strength requirement, she figured the requirement was the same for the swords massive form. Pulling it out momentarily, she found it was almost the perfect length that Kirito preferred. Putting it back, she opened a trade window with Kirito, then added the sword to it. He glanced at the window, then turned to her. She motioned to her falcata with a shake of her head, quietly informing him that it was a straight sword. He nodded his understanding, then accepted the trade without adding anything.

He tilted his head at her, then nodded towards the stairs up to the next floor with a questioning look. Knowing that he was silently asking if she had anything she needed to do here, she shook her head then started making her way towards the stairs.

* * *

Kirito rushed to one of the players while Hanna and a member of Fuurinkazan took the other two. Shoving a potion at the woman, he didn't even wait to see if it was enough before turning back to the battle. A few moments later he saw the Flail head towards Hanna who wasn't paying attention to the fight, "Hanna! Move!"

She jerked then turned, upon seeing the weapon heading straight for her, she dodged out of the way. Immediately anxiety filled him when he lost sight of her behind another pillar. He started to make his way over while keeping his eyes on the fight to dodge the Flail should it come his direction. He'd barely made it halfway before a large sword sliced into the boss' stomach. He turned towards Hanna, only to see her already shifting to swing the sword again, an expression of slightly unhinged wrath on her face. Seeing her holding a sword a bit more than twice her size would've been comical if it wasn't for that expression on her face. The boss roared and jumped over the other players, only to be met with another blow from its own sword as soon as it landed.

Hanna then proceeded to curse the boss and this floor, raining blows on the giant the entire time. At the end of her tirade she brutally took out its legs, then continued attacking it ferociously. As Hanna continued to attack the downed boss, Kirito sheathed his sword and glanced around, then chuckled at the gobsmacked expressions the other front liners were sporting. He shifted his gaze back to the fight turned beat down, just in time to see Hanna scream in pure fury as she cut the giant in half.

As the boss burst into polygons Hanna was fully revealed, having been partially behind the giant before that. She was breathing heavily in fury, her hair had gotten frizzy at some point, and there was a look of wild rage in her eyes which made her seem deadly, accentuated by the large sword in her hands and the blue polygons dancing around her. She looked mildly similar to when she defeated Nagashree, but unlike then she was clearly effected by this boss fight. She was probably a terrifying image to the other front liners, but to him there was something breathtakingly beautiful about her in that single moment. Even more so than when she beat the field boss.

He was embarrassed to realize that along with the usual feeling of longing, the ferocity she was displaying was also kinda turning him on. Quickly pushing the feelings aside before they could show in his expression, he crossed his arms and nodded sagely, before uttering a single word, "Owned."

Hanna turned to him, clearly about to say something, but the usual fanfare that accompanied the 'Congratulations!' banner rang out, and windows with their drops appeared in front of them as the sword in Hanna's hands disappeared.

He started going over his drops, then after a bit was startled when a trade window from Hanna popped up. A second later she added a sword, «Blade of Giants». He turned to her in question, but she gestured to her falcata with a shake of her head. A straight sword then. Nodding to show he understood, he accepted the trade as is. Tilting his head in question, he nodded towards the stairs. She shook her head, and started to make her way towards them, and he quickly joined her. This floor had obviously been harshly fraying her nerves for her to snap as she had. She needed to relax, and he wouldn't let anything interrupt it. As such, they could face evening else later. The casualty count, the reactions at her outburst, as far as he was concerned it could all wait until she wasn't so tense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1): For those of you that don't know, this a short staff with a chain attached to the end. Attached to the other end of the chain is a ball, usually metal with spikes.


	14. Revenge and Clichés

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late. *Minor spoiler for this chapter* As if Kirito wasn't bad enough, now Marzanna too? The mildly angsty misunderstanding between these two is killing me, but I don't really write this story. It mostly writes itself once I get on a roll, it's only the occasional hiccups and starting the chapters that I actually have to think about. Hopefully the story decides that it'll get resolved soon. Although the downside of their misunderstanding is that Kirito scene and Hanna's first scene are similar. Also, Go Argo, Go! Matchmake these silly fools! You've gotta get through to them eventually!...Right? The Kirito/Hanna scene is very clichéd, but it's just what came out, so I hope you guys don't mind clichés.

July 20th 2023- 257 days since SAO launch:

Mike looked around one last time to make sure he'd gotten everything he wanted to keep before closing his trunk. The trunk was a gift from him mother, and was exactly like the one she owned, or rather had owned. It was pretty much Marzanna's now, and Lily had only just replaced it when she bought Mike's.

Less then a month prior the third task of the triwizard tournament had taken place. It had ended in the worst possible way. Having been wanting to see who was trying to kill him, and thinking it to just be an old death eater or something, he'd taken the goblet right from under Cedric's nose with a quickly muttered apology. What he had not been expecting, was to come face to face with a still very much alive Pettigrew and Voldemort.

He'd been stunned before he could get over his shock, and when he'd come to he'd been tied to a grave and forced to help make Voldemort a new body. By the time he'd finally escaped, he'd been an absolute mess of injuries. He hadn't said anything about what he'd seen at first, not wanting to panic the crowd, but he told Dumbledore later. The gleam in the man's eye had been all Mike had needed to see to know that Dumbledore had suspected Voldemort was behind his forced participation in the tournament. It had made him sick to know that the man he'd adored and had complete faith in would use a child as bait to lure Voldemort out. And if that night had taught him anything it was that, that was all he was, a child stuck between the two titans that were Dumbledore and Voldemort.

If that wasn't bad enough, even before he'd spoken to Dumbledore, Mad Eye Moody had turned out to be a death eater in disguise. The death eater, Barty Crouch Jr, had told the whole tale under veritaserum. From Peter hiding as a rat in the sewers all these years, to Voldemort forcibly extracting information from Bertha Jorkins' mind, to Voldemort coming for him and disguising himself as Mad Eye Moody, to everything he'd done to ensure it was Mike who reached the cup first. Then Minister Fudge brought a demeanor into the castle and had it administer the kiss to Crouch.

Dumbledore had gone forward with the information about Voldemort's return that he'd gotten from Mike and Barty Crouch Jr anyway, but the Ministry was denying it. They were doing everything in their power to discredit Dumbledore, but as he hadn't gone forward with the information himself they mostly left him alone. Though they did make occasional comments about him, it was relatively tame. Still, Potter had wanted to threaten to sue them for slander, but Dumbledore eventually convinced him not to. He told him that the Daily Prophet _would_ stop, but would print an issue going into exact detail of what James had said. Potter may have disliked his family name being tarnished, but even he knew such an issue would bring the Potter family under heavy fire, possibly ruining their reputation. At least until people realized that Voldemort really was back. As he valued his reputation and fame more than anything, he back off, though he certainly wasn't happy about it.

He felt like a lost child, unsure of what to do, or where to go. He knew that war was coming whether the Ministry wanted to admit it or not, but he wanted no part of it. Wanted nothing to do with the mess the adults had made before he was born now that it had come back to haunt them. He'd told his mother everything, even confessing how he felt of the situation. In return, she'd gravely informed him of the prophecy that was made just before Marzanna, Neville, and himself had been born. It had been a shock of course, knowing that it was supposed to be up to him, but his mother gently pointed out that it didn't say anywhere in the prophecy that he had to do it by himself. Then she'd told him that she'd been thinking about asking him to move in with her. She'd barely finished her sentence before he accepted. Why wouldn't he? A chance to get away from Potter, live with his mother, and have better access to Marzanna before she came home all rolled into one? On top of that his mother and step family had made it very clear that they'd do everything in their power to prepare him for his eventual confrontation with Voldemort. If there was one thing this school year as a whole had taught him, it was that, that was far more than he'd get from Dumbledore, who'd likely just throw him to the wolves. He felt like he was incapable of saying yes fast enough.

With a sigh he finished securing his trunk. Just as he was about to pick it up and leave though, a very familiar voice came from behind him, "Never figured you to be the type to run away from home pup."

Whirling around, he was greeted with the sight of Remus and Sirius standing in front of the door, both of them were frowning at him. Shit. With everything that had been going on, he'd forgotten to tell them about his mother and sister. Potter was gone right now, having been called to an Order of the Phoenix meeting, but he'd be back in an hour, and while Mike wasn't afraid of him, he knew Potter wouldn't let him leave easily. He'd never become famous himself as he'd hoped, but he was rather famous as the father of the Boy-Who-Lived, even if Mike's name was currently not worth that much, they both knew it was only a matter of time before the Ministry was forced to pull their heads out of their asses and acknowledge Voldemort's return. So he'd never let Mike leave, even if it meant stunning him in the back. So he did **not** have the time for this at the moment.

The possibility that they may soon inadvertently make him Potter's prisoner frustrated and angered him, and it showed in his voice, "I'm not running away from home, I'm going to it, so get out of my way. I'm going home, and you aren't stopping me."

Remus didn't rise to his anger, instead replying in a soothing tone, "Cub, your dad told us you've had issues with him lately, but this is still your home."

He knew Remus didn't deserve his wrath, but he couldn't stop himself from exploding at that, " _That_ man is _**not**_ my father! I refuse to call anyplace he calls his my home. What are you guys doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be at the meeting?"

Remus and Sirius shared a glance, then Sirius cautiously replied, "Your dad-" He held up his hands in surrender as Mike glared murder at him, " _James_ was concerned about how seeing Voldemort return was affecting you. He was worried you might do something drastic, something like this, so since we had nothing to report he asked us to come check up on you."

Mike growled, "Is that the excuse he came up with this time? I suppose it doesn't matter. This has nothing to do with Voldemort." Seeing their clear disbelief he sighed, "Well, ok, maybe this has a bit to do with Voldemort, but it's mostly because I finally had my eyes opened to the truth. I finally saw Potter for the monster that he is."

Sirius looked incredibly alarmed, "Pup, your dad isn't-"

Mike cut him off, "I saw Marzanna." There was a deafening silence at his announcement, "And my mother as well. Funny thing, she was _remarkably_ clear minded for someone under love potion."

They were staring at him in shock, and Remus sounded shaky and hesitant when he finally found his voice, "What-" He swallowed thickly, then continued, "What do you mean you saw Marzanna? She- She's alive?" Mike nodded, "But- How? She-"

Mike glanced at the clock and growled again. Then he pulled his wand and pointed it at them. They both stepped back in shock, but he ignored it, "Look, I don't have time for this. I'm moving in with my mother, and I'd rather be gone before Potter gets back. I love you two, so the last thing I want to do is hurt you, but I will if you don't get out of my Merlin damned way!"

Sirius glanced at Remus, but he was staring intently at Mike. Eventually he nodded, "Alright. But we're coming with you. And you **will** answer our questions when we get there."

Mike eyed him for a moment in distrust, then hesitantly put him wand away and grabbed his trunk, "That's fine. As long as it isn't _here_ I'll answer every single question you can possibly think up to the best of my ability. Let's go then."

Remus and Sirius followed him out of the house and out of the wards. He pulled out the permanent portkey his mother had given him so he could return whenever he wanted, it was a necklace in the form of the Nephilim symbol. The only times he'd taken it off since she gave it to him were for the second and third tasks, as it was a magical item and he wasn't permitted to have it on him. It would've been a breach of the magical contract with the goblet of fire that was forced on him, and would've thus taken his magic. If he'd had it for the third task, he could've just used it to get away before Voldemort used his blood to return, because of that he'd had a crushing anxiety about taking the necklace off again.

So he didn't remove the chain from around his neck, even as he held the pendant out to Remus and Sirius. They both gave him sympathetic understanding looks as though they knew exactly what he was thinking, then they shifted closer and each put a finger on the pendant. As soon as he was sure they were touching it, Mike activated the portkey with its password, "Devil's Den."

When he landed, he was immediately greeted by his waiting mother, she wearily eyed Remus and Sirius, "Mike. There you are, I was worried Potter had stopped you from leaving when you were late."

Mike kissed her cheek in greeting before responding, "I told you he'd be at the Order meeting for another half hour at least. He did however, send Sirius and Remus, as he apparently suspected I was going to do something."

She glanced at them, "I see. Is that why they're here?" He nodded, and she nodded a tense greeting to them, "Sirius, Remus, it's been a while."

They both stared at her intently, and he knew they were looking for signs of her being under love potion. The longer they examined her, the more confused and grave they looked. After a few minutes of tense scrutiny Remus nodded in return, "Lily. It's been far too long. How have you been? We were worried."

Lily sighed, "I'd be better if Marzanna wasn't trapped. I'm assuming you were worried because of Potter's lies about me being under love potion?"

Sirius nodded hesitantly, torn between the harsh truth he could see with his eyes and loyalty to his long time friend, "Ya. Why would James lie to us? And what do you mean Marzanna's trapped? Trapped how? And where? I thought you said you spoke to her Mike."

Lily nodded, "He has spoken to her. It's... complicated, seeing as you don't know much about the Muggle world Sirius, and I've no idea how much Remus knows. As for Potter, well, he spoke the truth when he said I was love potioned by my husband, he just lied about which husband it was."

The two went wide eyed, and Remus' voice was shaky, "You aren't honestly saying- James wouldn't-"

Lily grimaced, "I'm afraid James has been lying to you for quite a while. He drugged me with amortentia in our sixth year. I temporarily got out during my... bachelorette vacation with Severus' help. Which is when I met Dante, my husband, and more importantly my soulmate."

Sirius jolted, "Your- Your soulmate? Are you serious?"

Unable to help herself, Lily immediately quipped, "No, you're Sirius."

He rolled his eyes, "Oh ha ha, very funny Lily."

She shrugged, "If I had to put up with that dumb joke all through our Hogwarts years, and even after, then it's only fair I get to use it against you at least once."

Sirius grimaced, "I thought I was being clever, but hearing someone else say it... I'm surprised you didn't hex me considering how often I used that joke."

Lily gave him a deadpan look, "It was a very close call on more than one occasion."

Remus rolled his eyes, "I've wanted to hex you for that one on more than one occasion myself, Sirius. However, if we could get back on track?"

They both gave him sheepish looks, then Lily sighed and pulled her hair out of the way, exposing her neck. On it was what looked like an intricate tattoo of two guns, one black and one white, crossing in an x. In front of them was a large equally elaborate claymore, it's guard was a demonic looking ribcage, collarbones, and skull. The end of the swords hilt was topped with a crown. The thing about soulbond marks, is that people instinctively know what they are. For Muggles, they'd just get the sense that the tattoo was important to the person, and that they weren't single. Magicals however, instinctively knew **_exactly_** what it was second they laid eyes on one.

As such, Remus and Sirius immediately knew upon seeing it that she was telling the truth, at least when it came to her husband being her soulmate and not holding her under love potion. It would take a bit more convincing for them to believe James had been using love potion on her, though the beginnings of suspicion were already forming. After all, if her husband really was her soulmate, she had no reason to lie that they could see. In the magical community, it was perfectly reasonable to leave someone for your soulmate, no matter your previous feelings for them. So even if her wedding was only a week or two away, and she would've been damn near leaving James at the alter, she had nothing to be embarrassed by. It would've been scandalous only up to the point that it was discovered that the man she'd left het fiancé for was her soulmate, then people would've found it perfectly understandable. Oh sure, they would've been sympathetic for James, for the fact the woman he loved found her soulmate a week before they were to be married, but no one would've thought less of Lily at all.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Remus pinned Lily with a look, "While this proves your husband is your soulmate, and hasn't been dosing you with love potion, it doesn't prove that James was."

Lily nodded, "I know. I have a pensive, I can show you the memories pertaining to it, if you think you can handle seeing it."

They glanced at each other, then looked at her in determination, it was Sirius who spoke, "If you're telling the truth it will be hard to see it. To know that the man we thought we knew and was our friend wasn't who we thought he was at all, but we can handle it."

Mike chose to rejoin the conversation at that point, "In that case, allow me to add my memories as well. There are other things you two need to know. If it's alright with you mom, I'd also like to add the memory of yours, Hermione's, and Severus' explanation about Marzanna's situation. It should help then understand, seeing us they're as unfamiliar with Muggle technology as I was back then."

Lily nodded in agreement, stop Mike turned to them, "I should inform your before hand, some of the memories I'm going to show you are Marzanna's from when our twin bond resynchronized."

They started moving towards the study, which was where she kept her pensive. It was a place where one was guaranteed to get some peace and quiet, as it was mostly used by Lily, Vergil, and Eva for important things like going over the Devil May Cry shop's finances and meeting with clients with large or time consuming jobs. Trish had definitely been happy that they took other that from Dante, as she no longer had to worry about not getting paid. Though admittedly that had already started to fade before that, as Kyrie had temporarily started to do it before the others arrived and took over. She may be kind and sweet, but she understood that they needed funds to be able to do their job and live off of, and she could be surprisingly terrifying when someone tried to screw her family over.

Sirius glanced at him as they moved through the house, "About that. How were you not affected by being apart?" At Mike's deadpan stare he hurried to correct himself, "I mean from the bond itself. I- I know you were rather depressed when you thought she'd died, but that was because she's your sister, not because of the bond."

Mike sighed, "You'll see soon enough, I'll just add the entire meeting where mom explained Marzanna's situation to me."

Sirius and Remus shared a glance, then nodded. When they reached the room, his mother quickly brought out her pensive and set it on the desk. She quickly dropped a memory in, then moved aside so Mike could add his own. Putting his wand to his forehead, he concentrated on the first memory, then deposited it into the pensive. He repeated this process four more times. He didn't know what his mother had put in, but he added the memories of finding Marzanna bloody at the bottom of the stairs and her telling him it was Potter's doing, Marzanna telling him about the amortentia and the resulting argument, Marzanna's memory of Potter casting hex after hex at her for destroying the amortentia before dumping her in America, the memory of when he was reunited with his mother in its entirety, and finally Marzanna's memory of Kayaba explaining the death game in the plaza. The memories would be a difficult and bitter pill to swallow, especially actually **_seeing_** Potter hurt her, but they needed to know the _full_ truth. Hesitating a moment, he also added the brief memory of Marzanna's message he was supposed to deliver to the two.

He glanced at his mother, "Could you cast an audio translation spell? The second to last memory is in Japanese. I know what it's about, but I don't think either Remus or Sirius know Japanese."

Lily shook her head, "The pensive has more than just the regular runes. It also comes with a translation rune. It'll automatically translate it for us, both audio and visual." He nodded, so Lily glanced at Remus and Sirius, "Are you ready?" They nodded firmly, but when they moved to get up she shook her head, "This pensive also has the ability to project the memory above it. I'll just activate that."

They glanced at each other then nodded. So she put her finger on the rune that caused the pensive to project memories, then pushed a little bit of magic in it to activate it. Immediately the memory she'd added appeared in the air. They watched as she listened in on Dumbledore and Potter's conversation about Marzanna destroying the amortentia, then saw Lily burst into the office and Crucio Potter. Then Mike's memories played out.

By the end of it Sirius and Remus were both pale and shaky, and his own mother was trembling in fury. Likely at Potter's abuse of Marzanna. He watched them quietly for a monument, "One of the things I learned from our bond reconnecting, was that due to Marzanna's increased durability, Potter was never able to hurt her with his bare hands, though not for lack of trying. He had to resort to spells designed for creatures with heightened magical resistance to hurt her at all."

They stared at him for a minute, slowly rage was overcoming Sirius and Remus' shock. Finally Sirius exploded as he shot from his chair, "That bastard! How **dare** he hurt her! I'll fucking kill him!"

Remus quickly grabbed onto him before he could storm from the office to make due on his words, "Sirius calm yourself!"

He whirled on Remus, "Calm?! You want me to be calm?! He-"

Remus cut him off with a growl, his eyes turning gold in indication of how close to the surface his wolf was, "I'm damn well aware of what he did to my cub Sirius, and I'd like nothing more that to rip him to pieces!" He paused and forced himself to take a calming breath, his eyes turning back to their usual green, "However, if you did that, you'd be sent to Azkaban, and if I did it I'd be executed because I'm a werewolf. I can guarantee you that Marzanna wants neither of those things to happen. She already has enough to deal with at the moment, she doesn't need to worry about us as well. Potter will get his, I promise you, but we're not going to kill him, and it'll have to wait until we're in a better position to retaliate."

Lily smiled at them, "I'm glad to know we have you two on our side. I always did like you Remus, and once you finally started to mature a bit I quite enjoyed your company as well Sirius." Then her grin turned vicious, "If you're pursuing revenge on that bastard, you should talk to Vergil. He's got a cruel steak a hundred miles wide when provoked, and he'd happily get behind seeking revenge for Marzanna."

"Damn straight I would. Who's the revenge against and what'd they do?"

They turned to see Vergil leaning against the door frame. Lily grinned at him, "Potter, for abusing her. What are you doing up here?"

Vergil growled, and his eyes turned red as demonic energy began to spark around him like lightning, "I wanted to see what was going on, since Mike brought guests and you took them to the study. More importantly, that is one endeavor that I will gleefully assist with. I've been wanting to get that bastard ever since I found out about everything he did to you and Marzanna, but much as he hated him too, Dante wouldn't let me. He knew if I took care of it personally I'd give that bastard a tortuous death, and he felt that it would be bad for my mental health."

Remus and Sirius didn't really understand, but Lily and Mike knew he was talking about the fact he was still a bit unstable due to his soulmates death. Mike stood up then turned to Sirius and Remus, "Well, I'm going to assume you two now understand my situation and support my decision to move in with my mother." They nodded, "Good, then I'll leave you to your planning of Potter's demise, or at the very least, ruin, as I need to unpack."

They waved him off vaguely, so he left to do just that. As he was leaving he heard some of the things already being discussed, and dark glee filled him. Oh, Potter was definitely going to pay dearly if the four are coming up with stuff like that strait out of the gate.

* * *

Hanna blinked as dark glee bled through the bond from Mike. Normally she couldn't feel his emotions due to the distance between them, but he'd visited her two days ago and informed her of his decision to move in with their mom. She'd been ecstatic about that. So she knew he was now closer. Considering how weak their bond was, it was still strange that she could feel his emotions. She figured the feeling must be incredibly strong for her to feel it and absently wondered what was happening. Then she shrugged it off, she'd ask him later, right now she was relaxing.

As luck would have it, the 26th floor was another desert, she'd immediately informed Asuna that her and Kirito would not be helping out with this floor. She refused to deal with his heat inducted moodiness again. She had figured that they'd just head down to the 24th floor and grind there, maybe focus on upgrading their equipment until the frontlines moved to the 27th floor, but Kirito had insisted they relax for a few days. After her stressful outburst with the boss, Kirito was instant that she unwind. Not that she'd put up much of a fight against it, she'd only given obligatory arguments before happily agreeing.

So they'd spent the last four days relaxing together. It was great, they had a lot of fun. She tried not to think about the fact that she was having alone time with Kirito, and that it was the first time they took more than a few minutes to do something other than mapping, grinding, questing, or focusing on doing some other important thing. It was difficult to keep her mind from straying that way, considering the lack of doing anything left her with quite a lot of time to think. Especially since Kirito napped a lot, so she wasn't even able to distract herself with conversing with him. Not that she minded his sleeping habit other than being unable to talk to him. She'd already known that Kirito was a sleepy head, it didn't bother her.

He was actually sleeping at that very moment, having dozed off an hour ago. She was sprawled out on her own bed next to his, menu open as she chatted with Argo. That certainly didn't help her aversion to thinking about things that should not be thought about. Argo took every opportunity ask how her 'quality time' with Kirito was going. It drove her up the wall. The constant reminder was also rather painful.

She knew Argo didn't mean to hurt her, she was just being Argo and teasing, but it was painful anyway. She kept saying that Kirito liked her, but he didn't. She knew he didn't. Whenever situations started to take a turn in that direction he'd get a pinched look on his face. And it hurt, it hurt so god damn much, Potter's abuse couldn't even begin to compete, Agnus' experiments didn't hold a candle to it, even the great demon that awoke her Devil Trigger and Devil Triggering for the first time was incomparable.

Closing the window after Argo told her she had to meet with a client, she rolled onto her side and watched Kirito for a few minutes. It was slightly terrifying, how much power he had over her without even realizing it. She knew he could crush her in every way with just three words, but similarly if he simply changed one word, he could give her the whole world. All it would take would be an 'I hate you' or 'I love you'. Even just an 'I like you' would change everything for her, as long as he meant as more than friends.

She sighed. That was the problem though, wasn't it? That's all she'd ever be to him. His friend. The thought cut her deeply. Rolling over she decided to get some sleep despite it only being noon. At least in the world of dreams Kirito was more than just her friend, she'd have to content herself with that.

* * *

Kirito woke slowly, not in any hurry to wake whatsoever. He'd been having a pleasant dream about Hanna. Not a wet dream, though he had gotten more than a few of those. No it wasn't anything of that nature, but it was nice nonetheless. Opening his eyes, he saw that it was late afternoon, the sun would go down soon. He glanced around the room quickly looking for Hanna. Almost immediately he found her sleeping on her bed. He watched her for a few minutes, then quickly looked away when he realized it might be a little creepy to watch his sleeping party member. When he realized his eyes were drifting back to her on their own, he rolled onto his side, putting his back to her.

He almost regretted insisting on this period of relaxation. He couldn't bring himself to really regret it, considering how stressed Hanna had been, and how much he enjoyed being able to spend time with Hanna with no pressing matters to attend to. However, keeping how he felt about Hanna to himself became more difficult by the day. It didn't help that Argo kept trying to tell him that Hanna reciprocated his feelings. He knew she was trying to be helpful, but she was wrong, and all it did was serve as a painful remainder of what he couldn't have.

With a sigh he rolled back over. After watching Hanna for a minute an idea hit him. A picnic would be nice and relaxing, and if he hurried they might be able to watch the sun go down after they where done eating. Glancing at the clock, he figured he had fifteen minutes to get setup before he and Hanna would need to leave if they were to make it on time. Pushing himself up, he quickly left the room and went downstairs to the inn's tavern and purchased some food. Returning to their room, he sat on the edge of Hanna's bed and gently woke her up.

She blinked in a sleepy manner a few times, then yawned. He thought it was adorable. Impulsively he reached over and started running his fingers through her hair. A moment later he realized he might've crossed a boundary and started to pull back. This is what he meant by having difficulty keeping his feelings to himself. Before he could fully pull away though, Hanna leaned into his hand with a content sigh, so hesitantly he resumed carding his fingers through her hair.

When her eyes closed, he realized she was starting to doze off again, "Hey, don't fall asleep. I wanna go somewhere, but we gotta go soon."

She opened her eyes again and gazed at him sleepily, "Don' wanna. 'm comfy."

He chuckled lightly, "That so?" She hummed in agreement. He shook his head fondly, "Who's the sleepy head now?"

"Still you. Your the one who dozed off while we were talking earlier."

He blushed lightly in embarrassment. He hadn't been able to help himself. Hanna's voice was one of, if not _the_ most soothing thing he'd ever heard. It was so easy to be lulled to sleep by it. The only time that wasn't the case was when she was excited , angry, or passionate about whatever she was talking about. He wasn't about to tell her any of that though. He was sure she wouldn't appreciate it, considering how uncomfortable the idea of a relationship with him seemed to make her.

So he just coughed awkwardly, "Yes, well. Anyway! We should get going. I wanna have a picnic. It would be immensely relaxing, don't you agree?"

She grinned at him, then finally sat up with a stretch, "Alright, Alright. I'm up. If we're leaving town just let me requip into my gear, then we can go get the food and head out. We can forgo the blanket."

He smiled at her while equipping his own gear, "Actually I already went and picked up the food. So we can just head out."

She nodded as she closed her menu, now in her gear, "Well, alright then. Let's go."

Kirito nodded, and stood up. He led her to the teleport gate, then took them down to the 14th floor. When they finally got to where he wanted to go, he'd led them to the edge of both Aincrad and a sparse forest. There was still a good half hour till sunset. It was inaccurate, but in Aincrad when the sun started going down the sky turned golden rather than red. The forest was already beautiful, but with the setting sun painting everything golden, it was absolutely gorgeous. They'd come across this place two months prior while searching for an out of the way quest they'd heard about from Argo. At the time, Hanna had been to distracted by navigating with the map data from Argo to really notice the scenery. Certainly, she kept an eye on her soundings, but she was only paying attention to possible attacks or traps, not the soundings themselves.

Hanna looked around wide eyed, "Oh. Wow. It's- Wow."

Kirito grinned, "I know right? We we're here looking for that quest. The one you got your falcata from?"

Hanna looked startled, "We came through here?" He nodded, and she looked around again before shaking her head, "I didn't even notice."

Kirito smiled gently, "Well, you were a bit distracted by navigating. So it's not too surprising."

Hanna shook her head again, then returned his smile, "Well, I do believe we've a picnic to eat?"

He nodded enthusiastically and she laughed. They spent the next half hour eating, then chatting as they watched the sun reach the 'horizon', which was a thick a cloud bank in the distance, then set. They stayed even after the sun had gone down, as Kirito said wanted to show her something.

They waited for half an hour, then Hanna straightened from her relaxed slump in surprise. Little lights were appearing all over the place. Kirito smiled at Hanna. They couldn't see stars, obviously, but Kirito had picked this floor for a reason. It was one of the few with fireflies. And while they certainly weren't stars, it was the closest there was in Aincrad.

With a content sigh he flopped back so he was lying down, and a moment later Hanna joined him. For A few minutes they just lay there watching the fireflies, then Hanna's hand accidentally bumped his. She pulled it away for a few seconds, then hesitantly returned it so that the backs of their hands were touching. He also hesitated, then slowly grabbed her hand. She entwined their fingers together.

An hour later Hanna let go of his hand and rolled over. He blushed when she was done readjusting. She'd curled into him with her head on his chest and her hand splayed a few inches from her face. He cursed the fact he stuttered when he spoke, "H-Hanna? What-"

He cut off as he brushed the hair from her face so he could look at her. She was sound asleep. He hadn't even noticed her doze off. He huffed in fond exasperation. He didn't want to wake her again, so he'd either have to carry her, or stayed here til she woke up. Hopefully, being asleep didn't count as resisting him moving her, as he really didn't want to get a harassment warning.

Thankfully, when he carefully moved, then picked her up, the harassment warning didn't appear. He carried her back to town, then started heading for the teleport gate. Players gave them weird looks as they passed, but he ignored all of them. When he finally made it back to their room he gently put her under her blankets. However when he tried to straighten up, he quickly discovered that Hanna had grabbed onto his shirt. After trying unsuccessfully to get her to let go of his shirt for a few minutes, he gave up. With a sigh, he unequipped his coat and sword. Sliding into the bed next to her, he briefly spared a thought to what would happen when Hanna woke up. Hopefully she'd give him a chance to explain why he was sleeping in her bed, rather than just slapping him from the get go. Even if he couldn't feel pain itself, it was still uncomfortable to get hit.


	15. Finally

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Err, so somehow I forgot to update here when I updated over on f2f.net, I'm not entirely sure how. I'm terribly sorry about that. Anyhow, I'm gonna say this right now, I don't dislike Sachi at all, but in my opinion she definitely had a thing for Kirito. I'm not bashing on her, it just makes sense story wise. Also, I've really no idea where to go from here. I don't even have chapter 16 started.

July 21st 2023- 258 days since SAO launch:

Hanna sighed contentedly as she woke up. She was curled under her blanket, cuddled into Kirito's side. Wait, what? Blinking rapidly in confusion she sat up and looked around. Despite falling asleep in the forest last night, she was back in her bed. That wasn't really strange, but Kirito being curled up with her was. She didn't know what was weirder. The fact Kirito was sleeping in her bed, or the fact she'd been able to recognize it was him even being half asleep with her eyes closed. Shaking herself from that thought, she attempted to get up only to discover that Kirito was holding onto her. He whined in his sleep at her movement, then rolled towards her, looped his other arm around her waist, and tightened his grip.

She sighed, she hadn't wanted to wake him up, knowing how much he enjoyed his sleep, but he'd made it so she had to. Reaching over, she gently shook his shoulder, "Kirito. Kirito wake up."

His face scrunched up adorably, then relaxed as he drifted to consciousness. His eyes opened, and he squinted in confusion at her, "Hanna?"

She smiled fondly, "Good morning sleepy head. Mind letting go of my waist, maybe explain why your sleeping in my bed?"

He blinked rapidly in confusion for a moment, then looked down at her waist. Upon seeing that he was indeed holding onto her, he quickly let go and sat up while turning bright red. Shifting away from her nervously he answer her quickly hoping he wouldn't get slapped, "You fell asleep while we were out last night. I carried you back, but you grabbed onto my shirt at some point. When I put you in your bed you wouldn't let go, and I didn't want to wake you, so..."

Hanna's lips twitched in amusement as he trailed off awkwardly, "I see. Why didn't you just momentarily unequip your shirt?" He stared at her blankly, and she laughed, "It didn't even occur to you did it? Even worse, you clearly went to your equip menu, since you took off your coat and sword, yet you didn't even think of it then?"

He blushed heavier, "I-I don't know ok? I should've thought of it. Sorry."

She shook her head while grinning at him, "Don't worry about it, it's fine. Honestly, I'm more concerned how someone who's usually a genius didn't think about such a simple solution." He turned redder, and she laughed again, "Come on. Much as I've enjoyed this vacation, I can't go another day without doing  _something_. I'll go crazy if I do."

Kirito didn't miss a beat, "You can't go somewhere that your already at."

She smacked his shoulder as he snickered, "You're one to talk. You're just as loony as I."

Kirito shook his head, "You've no proof of such outlandish claims. I'm perfectly sane, thank you very much."

He crossed his arms and nodded firmly. Hanna laughed, "If you're what's considered sane then I fear for the world."

He let out an indigent, "Hey!" She just laughed at him, he mock glared at her, "You'll pay for that comment Hanna."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

He nodded once firmly, "Really."

Her lips twitched, "How so?"

He hummed, then suddenly lunged at her. Grabbing her, he started tickling her mercilessly, "Like this!"

Wiggling and squirming while laughing, Hanna eventually broke free. Darting away she ran from the room, laughing all the while. Kirito gave chase, yelling at her.

Running to the dining area of the inn, she bought food, darted over to a table, and pulled the food out in record time. As he came over to the table, he eyed the food before grinning as he sat down, "Well, who am I to turn down such an apology?"

She grinned, "Like you could. It's food. _Good_ food. Your incapable of ignoring good food."

He lightly kicked her under the table, "I will tickle you again."

She grinned, "You'll likely have forgotten halfway through the meal."

He huffed, "We'll see."

Much to Hanna's amusement, the combination of food and discussing what they should do, had in fact made him forget his promise of retribution. Eventually, they decided to just do something simple and straightforward, so they made their way to the labyrinth to grind.

The grinding itself was rather routine, it was when they were on their way back that trouble decided to visit. They had of course _heard_ of people PKing, but they hadn't had any encounters with such people until that moment.

It had been fine at first despite being outnumbered 9 to 2 and being separated, then the PKers started switching with each other, always having at least two attacking both her and Kirito. Then things started going downhill. Though they both held up for quite a while, she started to grow frustrated as their health was slowly drained, whereas the PKers switched and healed every time one of them went into the yellow.

Then Kirito managed to stun the two he was fighting with Serration Wave. With them unable to rotate out, and Serration Wave only having a two second cool down, Kirito quickly landed a heavy combo on them, but hesitated when the health of one dropped dangerously low.

Hanna saw all this out of the corner of her eye, and shoved her opponents away with a few heavy attacks, not skills, then turned towards Kirito to interfere. Taking advantage of Kirito's hesitation, one of them immediately tried to decapitate him. Hanna felt a fury unlike anything she'd ever experienced burn through her, she just might hate that PKer more than she hated Kayaba, Dumbledore, or Potter. She'd never moved so fast in her life, whether in game or IRL. Blocking the bastards sword with her claw she didn't hesitate to counter-attack, cutting the man in half diagonally across his chest with her falcata. As he burst into polygons his cowardly friends ran away. That infuriated her even more. They'd kill other players indiscriminately, but the moment one of them properly fought back they turned tail and run? Fucking **cowards**.

Still, as angry as she felt, she _was_ relieved she didn't have to kill anyone else. She'd never taken a human life before, partially because it went against her family's beliefs, but mostly because she'd never _wanted_ to. Even so, she couldn't quite bring herself to feel much more than fury towards the man she'd just killed. He'd been about to murder Kirito, and that was unforgivable.

Sheathing her sword she turned to Kirito, who was intensely watching the PKers run away, no doubt wanting to be sure they left. She wavered, utterly torn. She realized Argo was right, they could die so easily here it was astonishing, she should admit how she felt to him. Yet at the same time she was still sure he didn't like her like that, neither was she sure she could handle getting rejected by Kirito, but she'd almost lost him.

The thought made her tear up, and lurching forward, she pulled him into a hug, clutching him tightly, she berated him, "Idiot! Hesitating while fighting PKers? You _know_ better! You-You could've- You almost-"

Kirito had wrapped his arms around her waist, and began rubbing her back soothingly with one hand. Belatedly, she realized she was trembling. As she cut off, unable to continue, Kirito tightened his hold on her, "I know. I'm sorry."

She hid her face in his neck, "What am I supposed to do if you die, huh? I don't- I can't-" he made a confused sound, and she gave a frustrated huff, then shook her head, "I don't wanna talk about it anymore. Let's just go back to the inn."

* * *

Kirito didn't like this. Not one bit. He and Hanna had gotten attacked by nine PKers, two had immediately pushed Hanna away from him at the beginning of the fight. To make matters worse neither Hanna nor he _wanted_ to take a life, so they were still holding back. It showed in the fact Kirito's health was in the red, and Hanna's was barely still in the yellow.

Realizing the current person he was attacking had less than 5% of their health left, he hesitated. That moment of indecision was the only opening his opponent needed. Kirito stumbled back, eyes wide at the blade rapidly approaching his throat to decapitate him. Oh god, this was it. There wasn't enough time to lift his sword, and his health was low enough that a neck or head shot would be lethal. Hanna was twenty feet away fighting two other PKers, but then suddenly she **wasn't**. Suddenly she'd somehow slipped between the tiny gap between him and his opponents blade, and blocked the incoming attack with her claw. Without hesitation she diagonally slashed the man from left shoulder to right hip, the pieces of him separated briefly, then it all turned into blue polygons. He forced himself to regain his footing, and mentally berated himself. This was no time to panic. He probably could've saved himself of he hadn't been freaking out in his head.

Apparently the PKers hadn't expected them to be able to kill them, as the other eight suddenly decided they didn't want to fight anymore, and fled. Cowards, they try to kill other players, but as soon as they meet one that actually fights back they run away? Once he was sure they'd left, he sheathed his sword and started to turn to Hanna. However, he was taken by surprise when her arms darted forward to wrap around his neck as she yanked him into a tight hug.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, then started rubbing her back when she started trembling, "Idiot! Hesitating while fighting PKers? You _know_ better! You-You could've- You almost-"

He tightened his grip, "I know. I'm sorry."

She buried her face in his neck, "What am I supposed to do if you die, huh? I don't- I can't-" he made a confused sound, and she shook her head with an agitated huff, "I don't wanna talk about it anymore. Let's just go back to the inn."

* * *

July 24th 2023- 261 days since SAO launch:

Hanna pursed her lips. The boss raid meeting was called today, so she and Kirito had left their cozy room on the 24th floor two hours ago to attend. As it turned out, the Moonlit Black Cats had joined the frontlines recently. They'd actually been the ones to find the boss room this time around, so they'd been at the meeting to report what they had discovered of the boss. Afterwards, Keita invited them to lunch, his treat for all their help. She was impressed with their progress. She didn't know if it was them, the trainer Asuna lent them, or a combination of the two, but they'd managed to catch up to the other agility parties in a little over three months.

Hanna was happy for them, really, but right now she was furious. First she'd gotten mad when she realized Sachi was shyly flirting with Kirito. Then she got angry at herself for getting mad as she had no claim on Kirito. This led to her feeling hurt again, which only worsened her temper. Finally, her anger would shift briefly to Kirito for making her feel this way, before she became guilty for blaming him. Which of course, led her thoughts in a full circle when she remembered the person who was actually to blame for her foul mood, and the vicious cycle repeated in her head continuously worsening her temper.

If all of that wasn't bad enough, she also felt guilt. She liked Sachi, she was a sweet girl, but at the moment she was furious with her. To make it worse, Sachi wasn't even doing anything wrong, it wasn't like Kirito was dating anyone, even if that thought sent pain through her.

When they got back to the inn after lunch with the Black Cats, Hanna flopped angrily on her bed, then snapped at Kirito, "I'm going to sleep. Don't wake me up until it's time to leave for the raid."

There was a delicate pause, then her bed dipped as Kirito sat next to her, "Hanna? What's wrong?"

Hanna huffed, "Nothing."

She felt a hesitant hand began to card through her hair, "There's obviously something bothering you."

She batted his hand away in irritation, "Just leave me alone. Is that really to much to ask?"

There was a pause, and she could practically feel how that hurt Kirito. She squeezed her eyes shut in frustration. What the hell was she doing? He was trying to help, attempting to make her feel better, and she's lashing out at him? She flinched, the thought of her hurting Kirito made her feel like scum. Made her feel like she was the lowlife everyone used to think beaters were before they began thinking she and Kirito were just outright crazy.

A moment later Kirito broke her line of thoughts, he was definitely hurt, but clearly determined, "Come on Hanna. Don't be like that. First you act like I'm stupid enough not to notice that your clearly angry, then you snap at me? That's not like you. If whatever it is really is bothering you so much, let me help."

Despite how bad she felt for hurting him, she also almost felt like a wounded animal, hissing and biting at anything that disturbed her. So sitting up she attempted to shift his focus and snarled, "I didn't mean you were stupid, I just assumed you'd be to busy with **_Sachi_** to notice anything else."

He frowned in clear confusion, "What's Sachi have to do with anything? Why wouldn't I notice you bring in a bad mood because of Sachi?"

She gave him a deadpan look, then sarcastically asked, "Really? Are you seriously trying to tell me you didn't notice her flirting with you?" When stared at her in shock, she sorted, "Honestly! She may have been shy about it, but she was still flirting rather heavily. How did you **not** notice?"

Kirito flushed and looked away in embarrassment, "I... don't know why I didn't notice before that, but I was honestly more focused on trying to figure out why you were in such a bad mood."

Hanna stared at him in shock, then huffed as she flopped back. Throwing an arm over her eyes she sighed, "That's just sad."

Even she didn't know if she was talking about Kirito and his lack of attention to a pretty girl flirting with him, or herself getting jealous when Kirito hadn't been even been paying attention. There was a brief silence, then Kirito asked her, "Is that what was bothering you?" Her silence spoke more than even a direct confession, as it also informed him of her embarrassment over the matter, " _ **Why**_? What's it matter if someone's flirting with me?"

Hanna scowled, then angrily snapped, "It doesn't."

Kirito sounded even more confused, "Then because it was Sachi specifically? Why would you care if she flirts with me? Why would it get you so worked up?"

Despite coming off of a vacation of sorts, the PKer attack four days previous and Sachi's flirting had left her incredibly stressed and frustrated. As such she didn't even think it through before she snapped at him, "You're such a dense _**idiot**_! I love you, and you almost got yourself killed four days ago, and then Sachi was flirting with you, and I-I-"

She cut herself off in horror, realizing what she just admitted. She moved her arm just enough to be able to see Kirito, who was gaping in shock. There was a heavy beat of silence, then Kirito touched her arm. She rolled away from him, "Just leave me alone."

She felt tears of frustration in her eyes as the tone of her voice broadcasted her heartbreak. Treacherous voice. First it sold her out, now it wouldn't even let her keep her dignity. Then Kirito grabbed her shoulder. She wanted to scream. He wouldn't even have the decency to let her be? She'd thought better of him.

When she ignored him Kirito tugged her shoulder. For a spilt second she contemplated resisting since she didn't want to see his expression now that the shock had faded, but then she let him roll her onto her back since she also didn't want him to get a harassment warning. She was completely taken by surprise when he kissed her.

* * *

Kirito's could swear he felt his heart hammering in his chest. Hanna just told him she loved him. How often had he longed for her to say those words? How many times had he dreamed of it? Was he dreaming now? Had he dozed off in the boss meeting when the DDA and KOB had been discussing boring guild stuff?

When Hanna shifted her arm to enough for him to see her, he decided that it wasn't the case. He'd **never** dream about making Hanna cry. ** _Ever_**. And there were in fact tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. Which meant that this was really happening. Hanna _loved_ him. The idea made him giddy with excitement on a level that not even his enjoyment of fighting could. The problem was that Hanna seemed to be under the impression he didn't feel the same. Well, he needed to rectify that, didn't he?

He gently touched her arm. She stiffened slightly, then rolled so her back was to him, "Just leave me alone."

Pain stabbed through him viciously at her heart broken tone. It caused him to hesitate a moment, then he gripped her shoulder, silently asking her to roll into her back. When she ignored him, he firmly tugged. For a brief moment it seemed like she'd resist, then she seemed to slump into herself and let him pull her.

He rolled her over and kissed her. God he'd wanted to do that for so long. Apparently though, he was an oblivious idiot who misunderstood something somewhere along the line. He'd been so sure she didn't return his feelings. The kiss stared off chaste, but quickly turned into something hard and desperate. When they finally pulled away he leaned his forehead against hers, "I may be a dense idiot, but you're just being silly. Sachi's sweat, I'll admit that, but why would I notice Sachi flirting when the person I love is clearly distressed about something? Though I never pegged you for the jealous type."

Hanna blushed, then looked away from him, "Even if I didn't have any claim on you, it just pissed me off. And I'll admit, I'm still kinda hung up on you almost dying to that PKer, which didn't help the situation at all, because it's admittedly made me more than a bit... clingy. On top of that, I've been trying to hide my being clingy from you, which has been kinda stressful."

Kirito cupped her cheek to get her to look at him. Once she was, he smiled gently, "Silly Hanna. Of course you've got a claim on me. You have for a while now, even if you didn't realize it. As for the PKer." He sighed, "I'm sorry. It was a stupid mistake that I knew better than to make, but I did it anyway. I can't apologize enough for scaring you like that." He paused for a moment then grinned reassuringly, "And I wouldn't mind you being clingy, so you don't have to hide it. I know _I'd_ be ridiculously clingy and over protective if you almost died."

Hanna smiled lightly, then sighed, "I thought I was gonna lose you to that PKer. Don't you ever scare me like that again."

He nodded without hesitation. He'd never allow himself to repeat make such a mistake.

* * *

Sirius grit his teeth in anger. It took every thing he had to remember the self control lessons his parents all but beat into him as heir to keep himself from lashing out. He and Remus had been called to an Order meeting at Grimmauld Place, which he'd agreed to let Dumbledore use. The last few days Dumbledore and Potter had been frantically searching for Mike. They'd been furious to learn that Mike had gotten away, and Dumbledore had immediately had some of the Order begin looking for him.

Dumbledore sighed as another person reported a lack of finding even a single clue, "Has anyone found _anything_?"

There were head shakes all around, and Tonks leaned forward, "I don't see why it's so important we find him anyway. I mean, ok I'll admit he's in danger since You-Know-Who is definitely after him, but can we really afford to waste resources protecting one boy? We have a duty to the masses, we can't just push it aside for a runaway no matter his history."

There were nods around the table, and Sirius smoothly added, "Yes Dumbledore, why don't you tell them why you're so keen to find Mike."

Dumbledore sighed, "I had not wanted to say this, as I couldn't bee sure if there were any spys, but apparently I must. There is a prophecy, it states that a child born at the end of July will be the one to defeat Voldemort. I have since determined Mike to be that child."

There was frantic muttering amongst the gathered people. Sirius was more interested in the way Tonks narrowed her eyes at Dumbledore. She stood abruptly, glaring Dumbledore down, "A prophecy? This prophecy would've had to have been made before Mike was born, right?"

Dumbledore frowned, "Your assumption is correct, it was made shortly before Mike was born. It was, in fact, made to me. Sadly the place the Seer made the prophecy to me was not secure, and a Death Eater overheard the first half, causing Voldemort to attack the Potter home that fateful Halloween. Now that's he's returned, Voldemort will definitely be interested in learning the second half of the prophecy, for obvious reasons. We can not afford for that to happen, as such the Order will guard it as soon as we find young Mike."

Tonks glared at him, "There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to guard it. You already know the prophecy, if you're really so keen on making sure You-Know-Who doesn't get his hands on it then destroy it. Any other course of action is illogical, and frankly, insane."

Molly shot to her feet, "Now see here-"

Tonks cut her off with a cold look, "I will risk my life for my family, for my friends, for the Order, and to defeat You-Know-Who, but I will **not** risk my life over some cryptic words spoken almost 15 years ago."

Dumbledore lifted his hands in a placating gesture, "Now, now, there's no reason to argue. Nymphadora my dear, I can understand your reluctance, most no longer respect the art of divination, but it is absolutely crucial that Voldemort doesn't learn the full prophecy."

Moody snorted, "I agree with the girl. There's no reason to waste resources guarding it when we can just destroy it. It'll never fall into his hands then."

Dumbledore shook his head, "It won't work. Only those who the prophecy pertains to can remove it."

Tonks gave him a look of disbelief, "You don't need to remove it. Just cast a low powered reducto at it or something!"

Dumbledore sighed, "If it were that easy I would, but the shelf on which the prophecies are stored are heavily shielded against spells of all sorts, but particularly against destructive and summoning spells."

Tonks scowled, "Then why didn't you take Mike as soon as you realized Voldemort had returned and had him destroy it?"

Before Dumbledore had a chance to speak, Remus cut in, "Not to mention, you've been saying that you've long suspected Voldemort to return someday. So why didn't you train Mike properly. He's nowhere near prepared to face Voldemort."

Dumbledore sighed tiredly, "There was always a chance I was wrong and Voldemort had truly been vanquished. I did not want to take his childhood away if Voldemort was gone."

Moody huffed, "So you risk hundreds of thousands of lives so that one boy can be an immature brat?"

Molly bristled, "He's just a child, you can't just-"

Moody cut her off, "People will die. The longer it takes to get Mike ready to face him, the higher the number of casualties. What of your family, hmm? Your sons and daughter? Your husband? Every day Mike isn't ready is another opportunity to our enemies to kill them. Your family _will_ be targeted. You're known supporters of Dumbledore and the Light, and at least three of your children are friends with Mike. Killing your family would be quite the blow to our side. So sit down, be quiet, and think about that. Once you've thought long and hard, _then_ you can protest. Not that it'll make any difference. Your family isn't the only one in danger, there are thousands of families who will die, so Mike **must** be prepared. The needs of the many outweigh the wants of the few."

Molly was pale and shaky by the end of his tirade. For a minute the rest of the Order thought she'd argue anyway, but then her eyes glazed in deep thought and she lowered her head.

Dumbledore put a consoling hand on Molly's arm, "That is enough Alastor."

Moody snorted, "In all three years I've known you, you've never shut up about 'The Greater Good', but when it comes down to it you abandon your own philosophy?"

Dumbledore gave him a warning look, "I have my reasons. That is all that will be said on the matter. Now, Severus. Report, what has Voldemort been up to?"

Severus straightened in him seat, "He seems to be aware that Potter is missing. He's assigned a few Death Eaters to locating him, but there's been nothing so far. Other than that, he's keen on taking advantage of the public's denial of his return. He's mostly laying low, but he's using this time to adjust to being alive, gathering his forces, and recruiting the creatures that followed him last time. He's already got Greyback's pack, and they're trying to convince other werewolves. He sent out a group to negotiate with the coven of vampires that followed him in the last war, but he hasn't received word yet."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a few moments, "You said he's adjusting to being alive again?"

Severus nodded, "Yes. Though the ritual was successful in bringing him back, his prolonged time as a wraith left him considerably weakened. It will take him a bit to return to full strength." Seeing more than a few Order members began to mutter rapidly to each other, he slightly raised his voice, " **However** , he's _well_ aware of his momentary vulnerability. Since he's keeping a low profile and can't send them on raids anyway, he's keeping his Death Eaters near him. There are already over a hundred, though they're under the impression that he's keeping them close by so that he may send them out on a moments notice, and so that he may re-evaluate their skills and usefulness to him. Besides, even weakened he could still easily kill most of you."

Moody huffed, "A shame. After how badly the last war went it would've been nice to be able to take the fight to that bastard."

There were more mutters around the table, then Dumbledore cleared his throat, "If no one else has anything to report?" He paused to give people time to speak up, "Then this meeting is adjourned. Continue your assignments from last week."

Sirius glanced at Remus as they got up to leave. Walking out they apparated to Lily's house. She was waiting for them in the floo room, which was the only room it was possible to apparate into. She looked them over as if checking for injuries, "How'd it go?"

Remus shrugged, "I'm pretty sure Dumbledore doesn't suspect anything, but you can never really be sure with him. They've no idea where Mike is though, but Voldemort's looking for him."

Lily frowned, "Does he have an idea where Mike is?"

Sirius and Remus both jolted in surprise when a voice spoke from behind them, "No. I'm fairly certain he hasn't the faintest idea where Mike is."

They turned to Severus. They knew Severus had fixed his friendship with Lily, but it was one thing to know that, and another thing to come face to face with him. Sirius glared, "Dear Merlin, don't startle me like that! Your almost gave me a heart attack!"

Severus merely raised an eyebrow. Sirius huffed in irritation, then to the shock of the other three, turned away without insulting Severus. Glancing in bewilderment at Lily, Severus questioned in confusion, "That's it? No 'Snivellus this' or 'Greasy Git that'? Did you receive brain damage? Not that there was much to damage in the first place."

Sirius whirled on him angrily, mouth already open to insult Severus. Then he snapped his mouth shut, closed his eyes, and forced himself to take a calming breath. When he opened them, he was glaring at Severus, and his tone was tense, but not insulting, "No. None of that. While I admittedly don't like you, I only originally started fighting with you because of Potter. He didn't like how close you were to Lily, it made him jealous. On top of that, my godson will definitely need your help if he's to survive this war, and my goddaughter apparently likes you, though I personally can't fathom why. Not to mention you're Lily's best friend. So I think we should at least attempt to no longer fight, even if it's entirely unlikely we'll ever get along."

Severus raised an eyebrow again, then nodded, "Surprisingly mature of you Black. Very well. If you attempt to be civil, I will as well."

Sirius nodded firmly. Then turned away. He scowled slightly when he saw Lily and Remus smiling slightly. Remus cleared his throat and stepped past him slightly, extending his hand to Severus, "We were never as hostile towards each other as you, Sirius, and Potter, but I agree. We should attempt to put our differences behind us, and stop arguing."

Severus eyed his hand a moment, then shook it. He let go quickly, but they all considered it a small victory that he even took Remus' hand to begin with.


	16. Blood Quills and Nobility

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I know some of you don't really like the Mike bits much, but it's plot necessity so it's a very Mike heavy chapter. Sorry. T-T Is it bad that due to all the little scenes between them that play out in my head Kazuto/Marzanna, which I'm the creator of, is becoming one of my OTPs?

July 31th, 2023- 268 days since SAO launch:

Mike scowled at the letter in front of him. Like every year, Hogwarts had sent him a letter detailing what he'd need for the year. He used to love Hogwarts, but the Tournament the year before and Dumbledore's presence had all but ruined it for him. Potter, Dumbledore, The Ministry, and the general opinion on non-humans like his sister and her family were even making him begin to dislike Great Britain in general. To be honest, the only reasons he didn't hate either Hogwarts or Great Britain were Hermione and the Weasley twins.

However, his love of his home country certainly hadn't been helped in the slightest by two dementors attacking three days prior. Well, they were _probably_ British Dementors, only a handful of countries used them. The majority banned them and transferred any that popped up in their borders to the countries that employed them in their prisons. Mike honestly couldn't think of any other country they could've come from, considering no one in the Sparda household had pissed off any of the other countries that employed them recently. When they showed up, he hasn't even had a chance to cast a Patronus before Nero had cut their heads off. It didn't really surprise him that Nero's Red Queen had managed the task wizards thought impossible, namely killing Dementors. It was Pseudo-Demonic Steel after all, there wasn't anything Mike knew of that it **_couldn't_** kill.

With a sigh, he shook himself from his thoughts and opened the letter to see his school list. Scanning over the books he couldn't help but scoff. He may have only been living with his mother for ten days, but he'd been visiting since January. His mother and Vergil had taken it upon themselves to tutor him after they learned about Hogwarts educational standards, which had changed slightly since his mother attended. To be fair, Hogwarts _is_ one of the best magical schools in Europe, they weren't lying about those claims. Vergil and his mother simply had _much_ higher standards when it came to magical education.

So after almost eight months of learning from them, he found the books assigned to be sub-par. The Defence books were by far the worse. He'd never read them himself, but he knew that the author was an absolute idiot who was of the opinion that hexes were harmless, and often went over when it was _legal_ to use defensive spells in his books. From Mike's understanding, he was often ridiculed for these ludicrous opinions. The Divination text book was almost as bad. Mike still stood by his decision of not taking runes or Arithmancy, as he wasn't really cut out for those sort of things, but he was peeved at the Divination class. For the entirety of his third and fourth year he'd been of the opinion that it was useless since he wasn't a seer, but Eva had all but made it her mission to correct this. As it turned out, all of the methods of divining were created specifically _for_ non seers. Trelawney was just so focused on seers and coming off as mystical that she didn't teach it right. Eva had been rectifying that. He had soon discovered that he still wasn't great at it, but he was decent enough.

He was broken from his thoughts by his mother, "You don't seem very happy sweetheart. Is everything ok?"

Mike sighed, then handed her the letter, "Fine, just… My textbooks this year don't seem quite up to par since you guys have been tutoring me. Especially the DADA text. We're definitely getting another horrible teacher if the books are any indication. Honestly, I almost want to just drop out of Hogwarts and attend another school, but it wouldn't really change things. The other schools would almost certainly be similar. Then again, if I did that I wouldn't have to deal with the 'boy who lived and is now crying wolf' bullshit."

His mother hummed, "True. If you signed up to a school outside of Europe, you still be a bit famous for surviving the killing curse, but that's about it. The countries outside of Europe weren't really affected by Voldemort, so they don't really care. Sure they kept an eye on the happenings during the war, but only to make sure it didn't spread out of Europe to their countries." His mother shook her head, "Anyway, if you want to attend another school, I will of course, support your decision, but you should decide soon so you can start school on time."

Mike tilted his head, "Do you think I should?"

His mother sighed, "My personal opinion? Yes. With the two main powers in that country being Dumbledore with his far reaching influences, and Voldemort with the pureblood elitists, I think that country is poisonous. **However** , it's your choice. I may be your mother, but I'm of the opinion you can take care of yourself. If you want my advice, I will happily give it. If you want me to make the decision for you, I shall. I won't, however, force you to accept either if you don't want it."

Mike thought about that for a bit, then sighed, "I just wish I could find a school where no one would **care** that I'm Mike **_Potter_**." He spit the last name with complete venom, then scowled, "Although, I'd accept just getting rid of that name and any association with the man who gave it to me."

His mother eyed him for a moment, "Well, you could if you wanted." At his shocked look she smiled lightly, "Dante and I have been talking. It would be your choice of course, but in the past five months Dante has kind of begun to think of you like his son. We talked about it last week, and if you're willing, Dante would like to blood adopt you. You wouldn't have to be a Potter in any form anymore if you don't want to."

Mike couldn't help but get slightly teary eyed at that. In the nearly eight months that he had known them, Mike had definitely started thinking of the residents of Devil May Cry as family. They certainly went out of their way to make him feel welcomed, Dante in particular. He'd never admit it, but he occasionally got jealous of Marzanna. Of the fact she got Dante for a dad when he got stuck with Potter. He didn't have to be jealous anymore though. Dante was offering to be his dad, to sever any connections he had with Potter if he wanted. And _oh_ , how he wanted that.

His mother smiled gently at him, and leaned over, wiping the tears away, "Oh sweetie. You know this is your family, right? You don't have to be a Sparda by blood. Take Trish, Lady, and Kat for example. They're not blood relatives, but they _a_ _re_ family. This isn't an offer to make you family, you've been so all along. This is just Dante wanting to make it official, so that no one can ever say you aren't as much his child as Marzanna."

Mike nodded, "I-I'd like that. I'd like that a lot. Even if Mike Sparda sounds a bit strange."

His mother laughed, "A bit, but it's how things should be." With a sigh she leaned back, "Anyhow, you still need to make a decision regarding Hogwarts. Not right now if you don't want to, but soon."

Mike huffed, "As much as I don't like the school that much anymore, I _do_ have friends there. Plus, with the claims of Voldemort returning, people will think I'm running away. While I don't really care about there opinions, Voldemort knows at least part of the prophecy. If he thinks I'm running he could become bolder. A lot of innocent people will die if he decides to stop hiding. I'm not arrogantly thinking I'm the reason he's hiding. I'm aware it's mostly because of Dumbledore, but I still feel like he'd come out into the open if the light lost their poster boy. Much as I hate being one of their beacons of hope, it doesn't change the fact that I am. To those who believe me about Voldemort and are trying to oppose him, it would probably be a blow to their moral if I left entirely instead of just for the summer."

His mother sighed tiredly, "So you're going back in September?"

Mike frowned, "Ya. I guess I am." Then he looked at his mother with defiance shining in his eyes, "But I'm going back as Mike Sparda, not Mike Potter. I refuse to be the lost little boy Mike Potter was anymore."

His mother nodded in approval, "Good. You'll need that conviction for the trials that are sure to come, and as always, we Sparda's will support our family. So never forget what it means to have that name."

Mike smiled lightly, "I won't forget. Ever. That's a promise."

* * *

August 22nd, 2023- 290 days since SAO launch:

Mike groaned from his spot on the floor. He was sore all over. He'd been blood adopted by Dante only two days after he agreed. Then grandpa had decided that much like Marzanna all those years ago, Mike needed to be trained so that he could at least defend himself, even if he chose not to become a Demon Hunter. Actually, he'd been even more insistent for Mike then he had been for Marzanna, given the rising trouble with Voldemort. Just like Marzanna, Sparda had forged him a soul bound weapon. It took the form of Carpathian sword, with it's primary angelic form being an Armenian dagger, and it's demonic form was a Guāndāo(1).

Once he received his weapon, his family had immediately began his training. Which was what he was doing at the moment. Getting his ass kicked by Vergil in the name of training. Vergil nudged him in the side with his foot, "You alright there?"

Mike huffed in irritation, "Everything hurts you sadistic jerk. Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware I need this training, and the whole 'no pain, no gain' thing, but this is just ridiculous."

Vergil sighed, "Yes well, we have to start from the very beginning with your training, and we have no time to waste. Yes, I'm setting a rather brutal pace. However, with this Voldemort guy already after you, and the demons who will begin hunting you now, you cannot afford anything less. If anything, I'm actually going easier on you than I should due to you now being a devil, which gives you a definite advantage when it comes to any sort of fighting."

Now it was Mike who sighed, then he climbed to his feet, "I know, I know. Sorry Uncle Vergil, I just-"

Vergil nodded in understanding, "I know. It's hard, you hurt all over, and you probably feel like you aren't improving in the slightest. Don't let it get to you though. Yes it's hard, you've never pushed your body like this, and on top of that your body is still adjusting to your Nephilim blood. Yes you're in pain, heavy training will do that to you, Nephilim or not. **However** you _are_ improving. Just keep giving it your all. You won't beat me for a couple _years_ at **_least_** , but if you can hold your own against me for even five minutes you'll do fine for now. That's your current goal. Not to beat me, just hold your own for a bit, ok?"

Mike rolled his eyes, "You say that like is easy, but I can barely hold you off for 15 seconds. And that's being _generous_."

Vergil laughed, "For the time being yes, but give it your all in training, and you'll steadily improve. Now, come on. Give it another try."

Mike huffed again, then quickly began attacking his uncle. He gave it his all as Vergil told him. Didn't stop him from ending up on his back in twelve seconds flat. It was going to be a long painful road to lasting five minutes against Vergil.

* * *

September 4th, 2023- 303 days since SAO launch:

Mike watched Umbridge cautiously as she stood from her desk. She smiled in what she probably thought was a sweet manner, "Good afternoon!" There were a few murmurs in response and she frowned, " _That_ won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please,  
to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge'. One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"

This time the entire double class of Gryffindor and Slytherin chorused the response back. Umbridge gave that fake sweet smile again, "Well now. That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out please."

The order was done, but the students weren't happy about it. Lessons that began with those words were rarely interesting. Umbridge pulled out her own wand and tapped the blackboard, immediately words appeared on it:

Defense Against the Dark Arts

A Return To Basic Principles

Umbridge turned back to them, "Well now, your instruction in this subject has been disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it? The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in you all being far below the standard we would expect to see in your OWL year. You will be pleased to know, however, that this problem will now be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centred, Ministry-approved course of  
defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."

Mike scowled at his desk. He did _not_ like the sound of this 'Ministry-approved' course at all. Umbridge turned back to the blackboard and tapped it with her wand again. Mike looked back up at the sound. The previous words disappeared, replacing it were the words 'Course Aims'. Underneath it three sentences appeared:

1\. Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic  
2\. Learning to recognise situations in which defensive magic can legally be used  
3\. Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use

For a few moments the quiet room was filled with the scratching of quills on parchment. Once everyone was finished copying down Umbridge's course aims she continued, "Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

There were scattered mutters of assent, and Umbridge frowned again, "I think we'll try that again. When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply, 'Yes Professor Umbridge', or 'No Professor Umbridge'. So, has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?" The class dutifully chorused back affirmations, and Umbridge smiled in that sickeningly sweet manner, "Good. I should like you all to turn to page five and read 'Chapter One, Basics for Beginners'. There will be no need to talk."

Umbridge went back to the teacher's desk and observed them all closely. Mike opened his book to page five, but he'd given the book a cursory skim through when he bought his books, it really was as bad as everyone said. So he didn't bother to read the garbage, simply pretended to. After a few minutes he glanced to his right, then blinked rapidly in surprise upon seeing Hermione. She hadn't even opened the book, and was instead staring pointedly at Umbridge with her hand in the air.

Mike could never remember Hermione neglecting to read when instructed to, if anything, it was difficult to keep her from opening any book that came within five feet of her. Mike gave her a questioning look, but she merely glanced at him then shook her head. She quickly resumed staring at Umbridge, who was just as resolutely looking anywhere but Hermione.

After several minutes though, Mike wasn't the only one watching Hermione rather than reading. The garbage they'd been assigned was so tedious and dull that an increasing number of students were glancing back and forth between Hermione and Umbridge, clearly wondering how long Umbridge would let the situation continue.

When over half the class was paying attention to Hermione rather than their books, Umbridge seemed to decide that she could no longer ignore the situation. She turned to Hermione as though she'd only just noticed her, "Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?"

Hermione lowered her hand and shook her head, "Not about the chapter, no."

Umbridge gave her a smile of slight warning, "Well, we're reading just now. If you have any other queries we can deal with them at the end of class."

Hermione pursed her lips, "I've got a question about your course aims."

Umbridge raised her eyebrows, "And your name is?"

"Hermione Granger."

Umbridge's voice was full of determined sweetness, "Well miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read through them _carefully_."

"Well I don't." Hermione wasn't usually so blunt with teachers. It was rather obvious to most of the class that she didn't like Umbridge, "There's nothing up there about _using_ defensive spells."

There was a few moments of silence as the class turned back to re-read the board. Frowns quickly started appearing on the student's faces as they realized Hermione was correct. Umbridge blinked rapidly, " ** _Using_** defensive spells?" Umbridge laughed lightly as though she just understood a joke that had eluded her for a moment, "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"

Ron loudly burst into the near argument, "We're not going to use magic?"

Umbridge stared at him coldly, "Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class Mr-"

Ron scowled, "Weasley." the reply was prompt and followed by him thrusting his hand into the air.

Umbridge simply smiled at him, then turned away. Mike and Hermione shared a glance, then put their hands into the air as well. They may not like Ronald, but he had a legitimate question, and was obviously going to be ignored. Umbridge's eyes lingered on Mike, then she turned to Hermione, "Yes miss Granger? You wished to ask something else?"

Hermione didn't waste a second for her reply, "Yes. Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?"

Umbridge's voice was more falsely sweet than ever, "Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert miss Granger?"

Hermione pursed her lips, they could all see where that inquiry was going, but she answered anyway, "No, but-"

Umbridge cut her off, "Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer of you have devised our new programme of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure risk-free way-"

Mike knew he shouldn't, he was already unfavorable amongst the Ministry at the moment, and Umbridge was definitely sent by Fudge, but those words irritated him immensely, "What use is that? If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a-"

Umbridge all but smugly sang, " _Hand_ Mr Potter."

Mike pushed his hand into the air. Just like with Ronald, Umbridge purposely turned away, but now other students had their hands In the air as well. Umbridge pointed at one person at random, "And your name is?"

"Dean Thomas."

Umbridge raised an eyebrow, "Well Mr Thomas?"

Dean glanced around as he lowered his hand, "Well, it's like Mike said, isn't it? If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk free."

Umbridge seemed to be getting irritated now, "I ask again, do you expect to be attacked during my class?"

"No, but-"

Umbridge talked right over him, "I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school, but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed. Not to mention, very dangerous halfbreeds."

She gave a nasty little laugh while she spoke of Remus, and it took everything in Mike to stay in his chair. His dislike of her was rapidly turning to hate. It was people like Umbridge who were ruining Great Britain for him. Most of his family, himself included since the blood adoption, were either half or less than half human. Only Aunt Lady and Aunt Kat were more than half human.

Before Mike could lose his temper, Dean lost his own, and angrily snapped back at Umbridge, "If you're talking about Professor Lupin, he was the best teacher we ever-"

Umbridge scowled in near fury, " ** _Hand_** Mr Thomas!" Umbridge's frown lingered on Dean for a moment, likely for calling a halfbreed better than her in any way. Then she turned back to the rest of the class, "As I was saying, you have been introduced to spells that are complex, inappropriate for your age group, and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day-"

Hermione cut her off with a scowl, "No we haven't! We just-"

Umbridge was really irritated now, " _Your hand is not up miss Granger!_ " Hermione resolutely put her hand up, but Umbridge pointedly turned away, "It is my understanding that my predecessor not only used illegal curses in front of you, but actually performed them on you."

She got no further before Dean butt in again, "Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he?"

Umbridge was obviously starting to go from irritation to anger, " ** _Hand Mr Thomas!_** " Umbridge outright glared at him for a moment, "Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical course will be more than sufficient to get you through your examinations, which, after all, is what school is about." Umbridge's eyebrow actually twitched when Parvati's hand shot up, "Your name?"

"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter-curses and stuff?"

Umbridge sighed, "As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions."

Parvati, and the rest of the class for that matter, stared at Umbridge in an incredulous manner, then Parvati continued, "Without ever practicing them beforehand? Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells is during our exam?"

Umbridge scowled, "I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough-"

Mike shoved his hand in the air, and without waiting for her to acknowledge him cut her off angrily, "And what good will theory be in the real world, huh?"

Umbridge's anger turned on him, "This is a school Mr Potter, not the real world."

Mike scowled at her, "That's true, **however** , school is supposed to _prepare_ us for the real world. This is Defence Against the Dark Arts, it isn't _about_ the likelihood of finding ourselves in dangerous situations, it's about being able to defend ourselves if we do."

Umbridge leaned forward, her eyes gleaming in triumph, "And what, precisely do you expect to find waiting for you out there Mr Potter?"

Mike barely contained the urge to roll his eyes at her. It was obviously a trap, she was trying to get him to say something about Voldemort. He figured she must really be stupid to think she had him trapped with that question. Mike adopted a look of mock thought, "Oh, I don't know _Professor_. How many dangerous dark creatures are there in Europe in general? Hundreds of species, right? Sure the Ministry controls most of them, but even the Ministry openly admits that it can never guarantee it has them all under control. And what about dark wizards? Oh, certainly they should be left to the Aurors. I'm not saying anyone here should go after them, unless of course, they pursue a career in the Ministry's Law Enforcement department. It'll be their job then. _However_ , should we ever accidentally cross paths with a dark wizard who chooses to attack us, isn't it for the best that we can defend ourselves until Aurors arrive? Aren't those reasons what this class is for?"

Umbridge leaned back with a scowl of pure fury that he hadn't mentioned Voldemort at all. She huffed, "As with miss Granger, you are not a Ministry-trained education expert, Mr Potter. You do not have the credentials to decide what this class is for. And detention for the week starting tonight for talking back to a teacher."

He wanted to scowl, but wouldn't give her the satisfaction, so he pretended to take the punishment in good grace, his only response to correct the other major thing she'd gotten wrong throughout the discussion, "Very well, _Professor_. However, I know Professor McGonagall sent out a notice, as she asked me to come to her office last night, believing it to be a mistake. I was blood adopted this summer, I no longer hold _any_ connection to the Potter family. It's Mike Sparda now, and I'll ask you to use my _actual_ name please."

Umbridge froze and paled. Apparently his family's reputation had spread through the wizarding world and reached the British Ministry of Magic. Even if they mostly left demons here to the Hunters that lived here. The only time they took jobs here was when there was one that the resident Demon Hunters couldn't handle.

Umbridge scowled at him, "Another week for such lies, Mr _Potter_."

Mike smiled innocently, "If you would like to see a copy of the _official_ Ministry adoption papers, I actually had the foresight to bring them with me. I figured some teachers might have as hard a time believing it as Professor McGonagall."

Umbridge marched to his desk in the back of the classroom, and glared fiercely at him, "Let me see those!"

He handed the copy over to her. Then watched as she read them over, rapidly turning white as a ghost as she did. Thankfully, his family had gone to great lengths to ensure the British Ministry, or any others with unfavorable views of halfbreeds for that matter, wasn't aware of their non-human heritage. Those ministries simply thought they were _exceptionally_ good at their job.

After a few minutes of staring at the paper in fear, Umbridge handed the papers back in a shaky manner, her posture so stiff she almost looked like she was under a body bind, "Very well Mr Po-, Mr _Sparda_. I have not actually had a chance to go through the notices I've received since yesterday. My…. apologies for the mistake."

Mike nodded sharply, inwardly grinning at how much she seemed to hate apologizing to him. He also noticed that she hadn't taken back the detentions she gave him when she accused him of lying. He wasn't about to bring it up at the moment though. She'd probably just give him more detentions.

* * *

That night Mike went to his detention. He found Umbridge waiting for him when he arrived. She gestured to a chair, "Have a seat Mr Potter."

Mike paused, "We went over this in your class Professor. It's Mike Sparda, not Potter."

Umbridge wavered for a moment, then shook her head firmly, "Yes, yes." She got up and set a quill in front of him, "Tell me Mr Sparda, do you still stand by your claims that You-Know-Who has returned?"

Mike raised an eyebrow, "I don't see what that has to do with detention or school, Professor."

Umbridge frowned, "Another week of detention. When I ask you a question, you answer. Now, do you still stand by the claim you made at the end of the Triwizard Tournament?"

It was obvious that Umbridge wouldn't accept any answer but yes. He refused to outright lie about it anyway. Shifting the focus of his argument in class was one thing, but outright lying was another thing entirely. Mike stared Umbridge down, "Yes. I still stand by the warning I gave at the end of the tournament."

Umbridge smiled in a nasty manner, "I figured as much. Well then, I want you to pick up that quill and write 'I shall not tell lies' keep writing it until I tell you otherwise, understand?"

Mike raised an eyebrow as he picked up the quill. Was the Minister really attempting to intimidate him into submission by making him write lines? He really didn't see the point to this, but tried to start anyway. A second later he realized Umbridge had already made a mistake so he turned to her, "Professor, I don't have any ink."

Umbridge's nasty smile got a vicious edge to it, "Oh don't worry dear. You don't need any, just start writing."

Mike huffed. A self inking quill then. She could've just said so. He tried to write the first line. Nothing happened except his hand itching slightly. He looked back up to see her frowning in confusion at him, "Professor, I thought this was a self inking quill? Nothing's appearing."

Umbridge looked alarmed and got back up from her desk, "Don't be preposterous. That isn't any ordinary quill, it wouldn't just-" She cut off and stared at the blank paper then her eyes flickered somewhere before narrowing, "Try again Mr Potter."

Mike scowled, "It's _Sparda._ " At her glare he turned away and tried again. Once again nothing happened, but the itch on the back of his hand became slightly more insistent. He turned back to Umbridge with a raised eyebrow.

She pursed her lips, "Keep trying, and don't stop trying unless I tell you to."

Mike couldn't suppress the urge to roll his eyes this time, but dutifully complied. After the tenth time of trying Umbridge leaned forward, intensely studying his hand. She reached out and experimentally touched his hand, exactly where the itch was slowly getting worse. He immediately narrowed his eyes. The quill has something to do the with itch, but he didn't know what it was.

For half an hour he tried to write lines with no results except the itch getting worse. Finally Umbridge huffed angrily, then glared at him, "Well, Mr Potter, it seems there is something wrong with my quill. As you were unable to serve your detention, we will reschedule today for another day. You detentions are temporarily postponed until I can get my quill to work again. You are dismissed for now."

Mike stood up and left the room, but paused outside the classroom. A few moments later he heard Umbridge yelp and his keen nose picked up the faint smell of blood. His eyes narrowed. He heavily suspected Umbridge tried the quill herself after he left, which was why he'd waited. There was only one type of quill he knew of that used blood, but it was illegal to use it for anything barring important documents and contracts. He quickly checked his watch. He still had an hour before curfew, more than enough time if he hurried.

With that he set off down the hall. Using ever secret passage he knew, he made it to the dungeons in no time. Knocking on the door, he only had to wait a moment before Severus answered. He raised an eyebrow before quickly letting him in. Once the door was closed Severus cast privacy spells as he moved over to his desk and sat down, "It is a bit late for a visit Mike, is something wrong?"

Mike sat down in the chair opposite Severus, "I just got out of detention with Umbridge. It was rather suspicious, so I thought I'd ask your opinion on the matter."

Severus raised an eyebrow as he leaned back into his chair, "And what, pray tell, was suspicious about a detention?"

Mike leaned forward, "The first thing she did was ask if I still stood by my warning of Voldemort's return. It was rather obvious she'd accept no other answer but yes, and that's one thing I won't lie about anyway, so I told her the truth." Severus nodded, it was an understandable course of action, Mike continued, "Then she threw me for a loop when she just gave me a quill and told me to write lines. She didn't give me any ink though, and when I tried to ask for some she said I didn't need any."

Severus tilted his head, "A self inking quill then. Where does this become suspicious."

Mike frowned, "It becomes suspicious when I tried to use the quill. Nothing happened. Umbridge was very surprised. She said to was a special quill, then demanded I try again. For awhile she just keep having me try to write my lines. The thing is she seemed _very_ interested in my hand. It had started itching when I tried to use the quill, and it got worse the longer I tried. At first I just thought it was a persistent itch, but then Umbridge touched my hand in the exact spot my hand was itching. She seemed to be examining it."

Now Severus leaned forward quickly, "Your hand itched when you tried to use the quill?" Mike nodded and Severus frowned, "That does not bode well. As a Nephilim, you have a high magical resistance. The quill was likely intended to do far more than just make your hand itch."

Mike nodded, "I know that. Umbridge released me early since she thought the quill wasn't working. I waited outside the door for a few moments. I'm pretty sure Umbridge tested the quill, because I heard her yelp. The thing that gets me though, and the biggest reason I came here tonight rather than tomorrow was the fact I faintly smelled blood after she cried out. I can't be sure since it didn't work on me, but it seems like…"

Mike trailed off, unsure if he should finish that sentence. Severus sharply inhaled, "A blood quill. It certainly sounds like it. Hold out your hand, the one that itched. I know a detection spell that can pick up the magical signature of those quills amongst other things."

Mike nodded, then extended his hand palm down to Severus. The older man wasted no time in whipping out his wand and casting a rather complex spell. A moment later he cursed, "It was definitely a blood quill."

Mike pulled his hand back and absently rubbed at the spot that was still itching. After a moment he tilted his head at Severus, "What do I do? With how against me the Ministry is right now, I'm not sure any charges would stick. Umbridge said that my detentions would resume once she had the quill working. I may be able to play it not working on me once off as some sort of problem with the quill, but if Umbridge realizes it works on everyone **except** me, she'll figure out my non human status quickly. I may not be overly familiar with Umbridge, but I _do_ know that she's one of the biggest anti creature advocates on the Wizengamot."

Severus frowned heavily. Then seemed to think for a few minutes, before slowly speaking, "I know of a spell that can lessen or negate the magical resistance some creatures have. It's usual used when trying to bring down animals like dragons, but we could adjust it's strength to only decrease your magical resistance enough for the quill to work. It only lasts for a few hours, but I could teach you the spell so that you can apply it before your detentions with Umbridge. It would only be a temporary solution, but it would buy us the time to figure out a more permanent way to deal with Umbridge."

Mike nodded slowly, "I don't really like the idea of willingly letting her hurt me, but it's better than letting that woman find out what I am. However…" Mike hesitated, before pushing on, "I think we have another problem." Severus raised an eyebrow in askance, so Mike explained, "My hand _still_ itches. I think the magic in the quill is still active."

Severus stood sharply, then walked around the desk quickly. He held his hand out and Mike dutifully gave him his hand. Severus immediately began casting spells, when he was done he cursed, then took a deep breath, "You're quite right Mike. I apologise for not picking it up sooner, but the spell I used previously only detects the presence of the magic, not its quantity or if it's still active. From what I can tell the magic will linger for a few days. Seeing as Umbridge will likely resume your detentions tomorrow, I'd like to take care of this now. If you cast the spell I was talking about on your hand tomorrow before detention, the magic that's still clinging to your hand will no longer have anything stopping it. It would be better to cast the spell _now_ while I'm here to heal you should your Nephilim healing not keep up, rather than just before you go to Umbridge. Are you alright with this?"

Mike nodded hesitantly, "Just get it over with."

Severus nodded, "I'd give you a blood replenisher, but as a Nephilim, I doubt you'll bleed out from something like this. Ready?"

Mike nodded, and Severus cast the spell. Immediately Mike's hand hurt as all the magic from the lines hit his hand at once and cut him deeply. His hand began bleeding heavily. Severus didn't need to do anything though. His Nephilim healing easily took care of it. Severus got rid of the blood with a quick spell revealing Mike's hand was fully healed. Mike rubbed his hand gently, it was slightly tender, but even that was quickly fading.

He nodded at Severus, "It's fine now, thank you. Do we have time for you to teach me that spell tonight, or do I need to come back tomorrow?"

Severus glanced at the clock in thought, "I think we have enough time for you to learn the spell tonight, but you'll need to come back tomorrow to learn how to adjust it."

Mike nodded and they quickly got started on the spell.

* * *

Dolores Umbridge sat at her desk staring at the quill and the piece of parchment she gave Potter. She was confused. It was a blood quill, they didn't usually just stop working. Yet it hadn't worked on the Potter brat. How was she supposed to discipline Potter for his horrible lies if her lovely quill wasn't working? Her eyes drifted to the bottom of the page where she'd signed her name to test the quill. It had worked just fine for her.

She ran her fingers over the quill lovingly as she pondered the issue. After twenty minutes her eyes narrowed in suspicion. She could think of a few types of people blood quills didn't work on, and every last one of them were filthy disgusting halfbreeds. Surely that couldn't be the case though? Potter had been blood adopted by the famous Sparda family, it would've had to have been them he got it from. It wouldn't surprise her if that family was full of foul halfbreeds, their home country, America was disgustingly lax about non humans. She'd even heard that they were talking about making clinics for non humans to acquire things they needed. Blood for vampires, Wolfsbane potion for werewolves, even _medical_ care for the bastards if they got sick! Honestly, wasting government funds on such disgusting creatures, it was preposterous.

No, it wouldn't surprise Umbridge if the Sparda family weren't human. The problem was, if they weren't how was it the Ministry didn't know? They'd hired them a couple times to take care of some particularly nasty demons. How could they possibly not know they were hiring non humans? And if they _weren't_ human, why on _earth_ would Mike Potter let them blood adopt him? Sure, the Potter family wasn't as popular as usual considering the head of the family stood firmly in Dumbledore's corner, but they were still a nice, _mostly_ respectable, pureblood family. Umbridge didn't hold Mike's halfblood status against him, she herself was a halfblood after all. What she could **not** accept however, was the idea someone would throw away such noble blood to become a repulsive halfbreed.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by blood rapidly soaking through the top of the page where Potter, _Sparda_ , had been trying to write his lines. Her eyes narrowed. So the quill had worked after all. It took quite a bit of weight away from the idea the Sparda's weren't human, but didn't erase Dolores' doubts entirely. The quill had worked just as it was supposed to for her, the writing appeared immediately.

She vanished the parchment and blood as she thought for a few more minutes then nodded her head decisively. Sparda would come in for his detention tomorrow night. She'd check the quill just before he arrived. If it continued to not work on him, she'd know he was a filthy halfbreed. If it started to work, she'd accept that there was something wrong with the quill tonight. She _wouldn't_ , however, completely disregard the idea the Sparda's weren't human. They'd always been almost _unnaturally_ good at killing demons, and it would explain quite a bit about the highly eccentric family. She should probably tell Fudge about her suspicions, get him to have someone investigate the Sparda's, but it could wait until tomorrow. She'd probably have more proof then anyway.

* * *

Dumbledore sighed heavily. Mike had begun slipping from his grip the year before, then disappeared over the summer. He refused to listen to him when we requested that Mike go to Order quarters, and after the first letter, outright _ignored_ him. Dumbledore didn't know what was going on but he didn't like it, not one bit.

Which was why he let Dolores Umbridge's blood quill through when the wards detected it. He knew she had it out for him and Mike, and knew who she'd focus the blood quills use on. He'd let Umbridge soften Mike up a bit, then it'll be easier to get him back under his control.

* * *

October 13th, 2023- 342 days since SAO launch:

Hanna and Kirito were in their room. Checking their equipment after a night of grinding in the labyrinth on the 35th floor. Hanna was looking over her claw, which had reached level 57, when Kirito made a confused incredulous sound. She looked over at him, "Something wrong Kirito?"

He glanced at her, "No, just- I was looking over my skills to see if my «Battle Healing» was close to leveling up, and, well… See for yourself."

With that he pushed the button that made his menu viewable to players, then pushed it over to her. She immediately saw what has caught his attention. A new skill she'd never heard of. Dual Wield. It was pretty self explanatory. The skill was level 1,and didn't have any experience points, which was understandable if it just appeared.

She tilted her head, "I've never heard of this skill. Have you?"

Kirito shook his head, "No." He pursed his lips, "It can't be an Extra Skill given by a quest, because we always do our quests together, and you'd have it as well if that was the case. You don't have it, do you?" Kirito almost looked hopeful that she had it, but a quick check showed she didn't. She shook her head and Kirito grimaced, "Well, in that case it _might_ be an Hidden Skill like the Katana Skill. However, I don't know the requirements to unlock it, nor have I heard of it. If it were an Hidden Skill we probably would've heard of it before. Not to mention, we do almost everything together. So if it was a Hidden Skill, you'd probably have it as well."

Kirito's grimace increased. She knew why he was so unhappy. If it wasn't an Extra Skill or a Hidden Skill there was only one option left, "Then.. It's a Unique Skill? Like Heathcliff's «Holy Sword»?" Kirito nodded with a scowl and she sighed, "Well, are you going to use it?"

Kirito jerked and looked at her incredulously, " _Use_ _it_? Are you crazy? Do you know how people would react to me having a Unique Skill? The only reason no one really says anything about Heathcliff's Unique Skill is because he's got a good reputation. I'm a _**Beater**_ though, it wouldn't go over well at all."Kirito shook his head, "No, I won't use it, it's more trouble than it's worth."

Hanna kicked him lightly, "Don't be stupid. Just because people would get jealous is no reason not to use it. If you try it and aren't really comfortable with using two swords, alright then you can just delete it. Don't waste such an opportunity just because of other people's opinions though."At Kirito's scowl, Hanna sighed, "Alright, fine, if you're so worried about it, just use it when it's just the two of us. I don't think it's worth going through the trouble of hiding it though."

Kirito looked away, "People would hate us even more if a Beater gained a Unique Skill."

Hanna shrugged, "So? They already hate us. Who cares if they hate us a bit more. It's not like it's a huge issue for us. We've got Argo, Agil, and our Tailor. The only thing we don't have is a Weapon Smith, but that's because we haven't _needed_ one yet. NPC smiths are more than capable of repairing weapons, and so far all the weapons we've used were either drops or quest items. Having difficulty finding a Player Smith willing to serve us is pretty much the only problem that might come from that. If it happens we can deal with it when we get there."

Kirito looked thoughtful, "I guess, but… Look, how about a compromise?" Hanna nodded, so he continued, "Let me hide it until we find a Smith. Then I'll stop, ok?"

Hanna sighed, "Except we have no reason to look for a Smith right now." Kirito gave her a sheepish grin, telling her that, that was the point. She gave him a look of fond amusement, then leaned over to give him a quick kiss. She grinned at him as she pulled back, "Alright, we'll do it your way, Mr Worrywart. After we find a Smith, no later, understand?"

He rolled his eyes at the by now familiar nickname, "Yes ma'am. Whatever you say ma'am."

She punched him in the shoulder. He snickered, then pulled her over for another kiss. Their equipment and the Unique Skill were both quickly forgotten.

* * *

October 17th, 2023, 346 days since SAO launch:

Sparda was quickly making his way through the American Ministry of Magic(2). Mike was being forced to let some bitch hurt him on a regular basis, but he hadn't really been able to do anything about it, considering the British Ministries opinion of non humans. His family was furious, they already couldn't do anything about Marzanna's situation, being unable to help Mike was adding salt to those wounds. Now though, the British MoM was investing their heritage, specifically their blood purity. They all knew damn well what the British Ministry would try to do if they found out his family wasn't human.

Which was why he was in the American Ministry. Dante hadn't had much contact with the magical world before Marzanna, Eva, Vergil, and he moved in, but the American Ministry had quickly realized what they were when they became active in their world. The Ministry knew damn well that they could either make powerful allies or devastating enemies, so they hadn't wasted any time contacting them and insuring it was the former.

However, they hadn't been sure if it would be enough to force the issue with the Minister. So Sparda had an ultimatum for the Minister. It was unlikely she'd refuse to help them, considering the choice she'd be given if it came to that. However, he'd only use it if she was reluctant to help them. He was on relatively friendly terms with the Minister, and he didn't want to strain his family's relationship with the Ministry unless he had to. If she forced his hand though, he'd give her the ultimatum without hesitation. His family came before all else after all.

Sparda frowned as he walked into the secretary's office. There was a new person. He disliked new people, they always questioned him. The secretary hurried over to him as he made for the door to the Minister's office, "Sir, you can't just go in there. You need an appointment to see Minister Mitchell."

Sparda raised an eyebrow, "Tell Medeia that Sparda is here to speak with her."

The secretary's eyes widened in recognition of the name, "I-I'll do that sir. J-Just a moment please."

The secretary hurried into the Minister's office, and Sparta heard a quick conversation. As usual when there was a new person, Medeia was furious they stopped him from just walking in. The secretary came rushing out beat red in embarrassment, "G-Go right in Mr Sparda. I apologise for keeping you."

Sparda snorted as he walked by, "It's fine as long as you don't let it happen again."

The secretary nodded rapidly until Sparda closed the door. Medeia gestured to the chair opposite her desk, "Good morning Sparda. Make yourself comfortable."

Sparda ignored the chair as usual, "Medeia, you know damn well I'm not here for pleasantries. I'll just cut to the chase. My son, Dante, just blood adopted a wizard you might know, he formerly went by the name Mike Potter."

Medeia leaned forward, "Unsurprising. I'm well aware his mother is Dante's soulmate. I'm assuming you're here for more than just getting him dual citizenship?"

Sparda nodded even as he absently put some papers on her desk, "Yes, though I did figure I'd drop them off while I was here. Though I don't even know which department they'd go to, so I'll just leave them with you. I'm sure your secretary is at least competent enough to make sure they get to the right people. Anyway, the problem is my grandson. Minister Fudge is paranoid about Dumbledore, he thinks he's trying to create an army at his school. He made an educational law so as to force one of his employees into the school as a teacher. She's now forcing my grandson to write lines with a _blood_ _quill_. On top of that, she apparently grew suspicious of Mike and my family at some point, because I've become aware that the British Ministry is looking into my family. Specifically our blood purity. We both know what that means."

Medeia frowned heavily, "A blood quill? Those are illegal, both here and there. Can't he just go to the Aurors?"

Sparda shook his head with a scowl, "No." At her confused look he sighed then finally sat in the previously offered chair, "Have you heard of Voldemort's return, and the way the British Ministry is denying it?"

Medeia looked troubled, "I'd heard Dumbledore was making outlandish claims of Voldemort being back, I wasn't aware they were true."

Sparda snorted, "My grandson was there when he returned. I **know** you heard about the Triwizard Tournament last school year. One of Voldemort's followers entered his name, which forced him to compete. At the end of the last task Mike was kidnapped by Voldemort, who stole his blood to create a proper body for himself as he'd been in a temporary one up until then. I believed my grandson anyway, but he also showed us the memory of that night in a pensieve. I may not have seen it in person, but I _have_ seen Voldemort's resurrection with my own eyes. I've also seen a memory of what Voldemort looked like without a body during one of the other times he attacked my grandson. I don't know what kind of magic that is, but he looked like a wraith."

Medeia tapped her wand on her desk in thought, something Sparda knew to be a nervous habit, "That…. is highly troubling. I'm not overly familiar with those types of magic, but if Voldemort's soul can survive the killing curse and stay anchored to this plane in such a way that he's capable of returning…. Why didn't you inform me of this before?"

Sparda raised an eyebrow, "I was under the impression that the majority of the countries stayed firmly out of the conflict, America included. I didn't think you'd be overly interested in details of a _civil war_ across the ocean."

Medeia shook her head, "Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't. However, what you just described to me, the wraith form in particular, means the bastard did something to make himself immortal. Or more accurately, bind his soul to this plane of existence so that he could just keep coming back anytime something happens to his body. A foreign terrorist wizard isn't my problem. A foreign terrorist that is immortal and whose government refuses to acknowledge on the other hand, is pretty much everyone's problem. I'll need to have the Aurors upped to wartime protocols and training. Better safe than sorry after all."

Sparda huffed in irritation, "Well good luck convincing the British Minister of his stupidity. He's determined to keep his head in the sand. Which brings us back to our original topic. He's so determined to ignore what's in front of him that he refuses to believe anything that Mike says. He's also got a minor smear campaign going to completely discredit Mike, so even if we went to the Aurors, we're pretty sure the charges wouldn't stick. Thankfully, Fudge and the press are mostly focusing on Dumbledore since Mike has never publicly said anything about Voldemort, but he's still on their radar since he's the one who brought the news back to Dumbledore to begin with."

Medeia frowned in thought for a for minutes, then slowly a smile stretched her face, "I think I may have a solution to your problem."

Sparda raised an eyebrow, "I'm listening."

Medeia leaned forward and clasped her hands in front of her face, "When the magical community hid from the regular people and began making governments of their own, purebloods made up the majority of the wizard population. Some of them wanted to only allow purebloods in, and that obviously didn't take hold, but it brought to light an issue no one had really bothered to think about before. Namely, what it meant to be a pureblood. There were people who said they were pureblood when they had a muggleborn parent or grandparent. Technically, they _were_ pureblood by the definition that a pureblood was someone who had a magical heritage on both sides, but it dissatisfied those who had a much longer history as a pureblood family."

Sparda nodded, "That makes sense. I'm assuming you're telling me all of this for a reason. I'd appreciate it if you hurried to that point."

Medeia nodded, "I'm getting there. So, when they tried to make a more clear definition of what it meant to be pureblood, they hit on a snag. See, wizards and witches age differently than Muggles because of their magic. They have longer lives, and can have children later in life. Which meant that some families that really should've been purebloods, didn't actually meet the standards that they came up with. So rather than defining it by generations, they chose to define it by years. On top of that, magicals back then didn't care as much about whether someone was human or not. So it's never _actually_ stated that one has to be a **human** pureblood. You and Eva are thousands of years old, and even if your magic is different than a humans, you still have magic. In other words, you easily qualify as pureblood. A potion and a drop of your blood would prove the claim."

Sparda tilted his head in thought. He was silent for a few minutes as he mulled it over, then he spoke slowly, "Alright, I can see the advantages of officially being a pureblood family. It would certainly put a stop to the inquiry of our heritage, but I don't see how that would help my grandson."

Medeia smiled, "Ah, but simply defining who could be considered pureblood and who couldn't wasn't enough. The magicals wanted a way to tell whether someone could barely be considered a pureblood or had a much longer history. So the Ancient and Noble system was created. I won't go into the intricacies of it, but the tier list is Ancient, Noble, Ancient and Noble, Royal, and Ancient and Royal. By the definitions officially given, your family would be Ancient and Royal(3). There are only three other families with that title in the entire world. So trust me when I say that if it is… Discovered that Mike is say, the Heir of such a prestigious family, he would rather quickly find himself left alone by not only this British Ministry employee that keeps bothering him, but also by the press. They wouldn't dare slander the Heir of an Ancient and Royal family."

Sparda grinned, "Well then, what are we waiting for? The sooner this gets done, the better."

Medeia called for her secretary, then sent him to go get everything required to register the Sparda's as a pureblood family. Once he was gone she turned back to Sparda, "To make this work you'll have to legally change your name in the magical world. Sparda Sparda isn't exactly reasonable after all, and your family is already known by that name. Along with an official first name for your record, you'll also need a story as to why your family hasn't come forward before."

Sparda nodded, "I already knew I'd need an official name for my records. I think I'll take the name Alessio. Fitting I think, considering my history. It means Defender of mankind. As for a story, well that's easy. My family has been nomads for generations. We were also more interested in fighting the demons than with claiming nobility. The only reason we're bothering now is because of the slander on one of our members."

Medeia considered this for a few moments, then nodded, "That'll work. With your family's current reputation, it's more than believable."

The two paused their conversation as the secretary came back. When he left again, Sparda looked over the items that had been brought. It wasn't much. A potion, a piece of parchment covered in runes, and an ornate dagger with more runes. There was also a blank ring. Sparda picked up the ring in curiosity, "What's this for?"

Medeia gestured to the paper, "It's bound to this paper. When you cover the paper in the potion and a drop of your blood, the ring will gain symbols to show your family's status as Ancient and Royal. After that, push magic into it. It will only absorb your familial magic rather than your personal magic, so as to bind itself to your family rather than just you. If you think of a specific design while you put the magic in, that is the form the ring will take. If not it'll take a form that suits your family's magic. It can't be changed later, so I'd think long and hard about whether you want a specific design, and if you do, what design you want. The heir ring will come out of it once you bind it to your family, and will be a less intricate version of your ring no matter what form it takes."

Sparda nodded, then tilted his head at Medeia, "I'm going to assume that blending my magic with my soulmate upon bonding to her will be sufficient enough for the ring to register the angelic magic the rest of my family has?"

Medeia nodded, "You might also like to know that later after binding it to your family, if you think of it as you push more magic into the ring, you can also create ward rings for Trish, Kat, and Lady. Those rings will show that they are officially under the protection of your family."

Sparda hummed, "I see. Well, let's get started."

* * *

October 20th, 2023- 349 days since SAO launch:

Fudge shakily bid farewell to Medeia Mitchell, the American Minister. She'd floo called him to speak to him about the Sparda family and their newest member, Mike Sparda formerly Potter.

She'd known of the investigation into the Sparda family, and warned him against such foolishness. As it turned out, the Sparda family was Ancient and Royal. Apparently, they'd been more interested in hunting demons than nobility, but the investigation, the slander against Mike, and Mike writing home about his detentions with Umbridge had forced them into action.

They were **not** happy with the Ministry or Umbridge. He needed to stop the investigation and the Daily Prophet's slander. He also needed to tell Dolores to leave Mike Sparda alone. It was a **horrible** idea to anger an Ancient and Royal house, even if they'd only just claimed their status. That idea was only made worse by the family's chosen profession.

* * *

Marzanna entered her mind for the monthly meeting with Kikuoka. Mike wasn't there, and she couldn't sense him, so he was definitely still at Hogwarts. Before his blood adoption, which she'd been **_ecstatic_** about, she couldn't sense him until he was already on his way to the hospital. After the blood adoption though, they were truly twins and their bond had been strengthened considerably.

Since she couldn't sense him she knew it'd be a while until he showed up, as he'd need to drive to the hospital after flooing home. So she wandered around her mind in boredom while she waited. She idly took in all the changes that had occurred since she got stuck in Aincrad. After about five minutes of wandering around she froze. She'd rounded a bookshelf to find a ghostly area with a massive bed.

She knew what this area was, it was the connection to her soulmate that she'd been born with. She'd first found it when Uncle Severus started teaching her occlumency, it used to just be a white area with an indistinguishable mist like substance. Now the mist had coalesced quite a bit. It was still kinda see through, and almost everything was colorless. The only exception was an _incredibly_ familiar coat on a tarnished pedestal. It was pitch black and simultaneously gave of the feelings of being a prison yet also freedom. It was cloth yet seemed impenetrable.

She walked up to it and hesitantly ran her hand over it. Then she slowly looked around the area. This was the representation of her bond to her soulmate. It was Kirito through and through. Kirito was her soulmate. _Kirito was her soulmate._ Tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. She'd grown up seeing what it was like to have a soulmate, and had yearned to find hers since shortly after she moved in with her dad. She never thought she actually _would_ though. But Kirito was her soulmate and she'd _found_ him.

Her gaze turned back to the coat and it's pedestal. Her heart broke a bit as she looked at it. She knew Kirito well enough to understand it's meaning. The coat was his freedom, yes, but it also was his prison that proclaimed him a Beater. It was simply humble cloth, but was forcibly made impenetrable. A Beater wasn't, _couldn't_ be weak, after all. The tarnished pedestal was Kirito's reputation, and even worse, Kirito's option of himself. It was tarnished from being nothing but a filthy Beater and Kirito's strange idea that he was a selfish bastard. She felt a bit of hope when she noticed parts of the pedestal that seemed recently polished to remove some of the tarnish on it. Apparently her attempts to convince Kirito that he wasn't at all a bad person was working, albeit slowly.

She rubbed at the cloth idly as she looked around again. There were computers that at first glance seemed to be scattered in a semi orderly fashion, but closer inspection showed that some of them weren't full computers. Those ones had parts scattered around them. She grinned at the sight. Apparently, Kirito was a geek _and_ a nerd(4). She giggled at the massive bed that took up the majority of the space. Kirito was such a sleepy head.

She smiled lovingly at the area that was so utterly Kirito it was ridiculous. Then she sensed her brother, so with one last sad glance at the coat and pedestal, turned and walked away. This place was private. She probably wouldn't mind too much if her family saw it, but she would **not** allow Kikuoka to see this place. It wasn't his business in the _slightest_.

* * *

(1): The Carpathian sword, or Carpathian Vampire Sword was designed by Jason Woodard and brought to life by Darksword Armory it is the first fully functional _fantasy_ sword of its genre. However, I rather like it's design, so I'm just going to pretend it's a genuine historical weapon. I would just name an actual historical weapon that's similar in its place, but I'm not quite sure what weapon would be the best. Hence the Carpathian sword.

There were multiple designs of Armenian daggers. Sadly I couldn't find any specific names for the designs.

A Guāndāo is a type of Chinese glaive. It was rather heavy, weighing anything from 40 to 150 pounds. Historically, it wasn't actually used as a field weapon, but rather to test the strength of those wanting to join the military.

(2): Yes, I'm well aware America doesn't have a Ministry. As I've said before, I myself am actually American. There's no reason the magical America can't be a Ministry though.

(3): Some of you may be thinking I'm giving the Sparda family to much power, but this wouldn't really mean much for them. The biggest interaction they have with the wizarding world is Marzanna and Mike's schooling, and when they're hired to hunt demons.

(4): Admit it. It's so true. He built a computer out of parts when he was in elementary, ergo nerd. But he's also such a geek when it comes to video games. I'm not making fun of either nerds or geeks. I'm just saying.


	17. Dueling and Silica

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: You can totally blame Mike for how long it took to get this chapter out. He was being a difficult bastard in the duel club scene. Umbridge was being her usual bitch self in her own scene as well, but she wasn't nearly as bad as every other scene came easily.

November 13th, 2023- 378 days since SAO launch:

Mike was in the library reading another book he'd borrowed from his sister. It was a fascinating study on the history of werewolves, and went into great detail on the first known werewolves and the differences between them and modern werewolves and how they changed into what they are today. Apparently the werewolves of old could, with practice, change into their lycanthrope form without the full moon, though that still forced the change as well. In either case however, they mostly kept their human minds, the only true exception being the first full moon a werewolf turned. Over time though, as the original bloodlines died out leaving only the turned werewolves, the blood got diluted until they eventually became what they are today.

He's yanked from his reading as Hermione stomps into the library and over to him furiously, before flopping into the chair next to him. He sets his book aside in concern. He's never seen Hermione act like that in the library, as she considers such behavior extremely disrespectful. One doesn't need to know Hermione well to know something must be truly bothering her to disrespect an oh so precious library.

After five tense minutes of silence without Hermione saying anything, or worse even _touching_ a book, he knows whatever's bothering her must be really bad. He gently touches her arm to get her attention, and does everything in his power not to recoil when she glares furiously at him, "Hermione, I don't know what's bothering you, but glaring at me won't solve the problem, and I can't help if you silently glare at the table instead of talking to me."

Hermione's scowl deepens as she turns away, and snaps, "You can't help me anyway."

Mike sighed, "Well, I can't be a sympathetic ear to rant to if you don't talk either."

Hermione growled, "I think we both know how horrible that _atrocious_ toad is. There isn't a need to go over it all again."

Umbridge, he should've known. With a shake of his head, Mike hooks his foot on one of her chair legs and drags it closer, then wraps his arm around Hermione's neck. He tugs her over to lean on him and begins carding his fingers through her hair soothingly, "Alright, alright. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine, but I'm here if you do, even if you just want to rant."

Rather that getting angrier and taking him up on his offer to rant his ear off as Mike expected, Hermione seemed to deflate, "Thank you Mike, but there's really no point. All that would serve to do in this case is make Madame Pince mad at us for being disruptive in the library. It wouldn't even make me feel better. It's- Well, I suppose I could just let you see for yourself."

With that, Hermione quickly pulls a roll of parchment from her bag. She stares blankly at it for a minute, then anger surges in her eyes again and she shoves it into Mike's chest as though she can no longer bare to even touch it. He wordlessly grabs it and hesitantly unrolls the parchment. For a few minutes Mike stares at it, unable to comprehend what he is seeing. It was their most recent DADA assignment going over the legality of one of the most common defence spells, the stunning spell. At the top of the parchment, right next to the title of Hermione's paper was a big fat ugly looking 'T', the worst possible grade someone could get and one of the failing grades.

Mike quickly understood what happened when he read over the paper. Hermione went into great detail talking about the laws mentioned in the assignment, then began discussing the pros and cons of each law. Though she eventually mostly agreed with the laws, she commented that she believed they need to be revised. It was a brilliant paper, but mildly questioned the Ministry, something Umbridge had shown herself to be utterly intolerant of.

When he returns his gaze to her her, he's startled to find Hermione has tears in her eyes, "She ruined my perfect record Mike. I know it's stupid to get so upset over this, what with everything that's going on, but I've never failed anything academic or gotten in any sort of trouble in my entire school history, including Muggle schooling. Yet, not only did she fail me for no other reason than being unable to take even a _little_ criticism, when I argued against her decision when she called me in to discuss it, she gave me detention. Me! Detention! I- She-"

At that she broke off and began furiously wiping her eyes, clearly refusing to let Umbridge make her cry. Mike sets the offensive paper down and pulls her to him again. She sniffles as she buries her face in his shoulder. In response he presses a brief kiss to her temple then begins carding his fingers through her hair again, "Oh Hermione. I'm not going to tell you that it'll be ok or anything, because I know how much this means to you, but don't let that toad get to you. That paper was just like every other one of your assignments I've read. Completely brilliant." There was silence for a few minutes, then Mike pulled away slightly and smiled at her, "I've got something for you that'll cheer you up."

Hermione snorts lightly as she furiously wipes at her eyes again, "I hate to burst your bubble Mike, but I'm fairly certain that nothing can cheer me up at the moment."

Mike's grin turns slightly mischievous as he pulls a book from his bag, "Really? Not even this first edition copy of 'A Study of Technomancy' my sister let me borrow for you?" Hermione's eyes zero in on the book he was wiggling in front of her face with the same hungry gleam that a starved predator looking at easy prey would get. With a dramatic sigh Mike made to put the book away, "Oh well, if it won't make you feel better, I may as well-"

Hermione snatches the book from his hands, then sniffs in a disapproving manner "There's no need to be mean. I said I was _fairly_ certain, not entirely so."

Mike just smiles warmly at her, "Told you I had something that would cheer you up."

Hermione blushed even as her eyes soften, "You know me far too well Mike."

He chuckles in return, "That I do. Which is why I know you'll want to read this other book I borrowed from my sister on the history of werewolves even though I borrowed it for myself."

Hermione grinned, "Oh, but of course. Since you were so nice as to borrow a book for me as well, I'll wait until you're finished reading it until I borrow it, but don't take to long or I might have to reconsider my generosity."

Mike outright laughs this time, "But of course miss Granger, I wouldn't want to waste your marvelous generosity."

Hermione pushes his shoulder lightly, then comfortable silence settles over them as they both turned to their books. Sadly the peace only lasted half an hour before being broken by Seamus, of all people. He hesitantly sits at their table, then fidgets nervously for a moment when both their gazes turn to him. Hermione's look was so cold it would make uncle Vergil proud. She hates the fact Seamus thought he was lying about Voldemort. Mike's own gaze is utterly neutral, he was still angry with Seamus, but doesn't think it worth it to start another argument.

Seamus shifts around a bit more, before glancing over to where he'd come from. Mike saw Dean and a few other people from their year give Seamus encouraging looks. Seamus takes a deep breath while squaring his shoulders, then turns back to them, "So listen, we all know Umbridge isn't going to teach us anything useful even though this is our OWL year. You've got the highest grade in DADA Mike, and Hermione is, well Hermione, so we were wondering- That is-"

Hermione cuts him off coldly, "You want us to tutor you guys. I don't see why we should. You've been horrible to Mike all year. Besides, the only competent Professor we've had in DADA since our first year is Professor Lupin, you should be used to self-study."(1)

Seamus flounders for a moment, "But- Our OWLs!"

Hermione's glare intensifies, "Are neither mine nor Mike's problem. Study a _real_ defense textbook, find an out of the way abandoned classroom, and practice. That's all the help you're getting."

Seamus recoils as though she slapped him. For a few minutes he is silent, then he switches tactics, "But it's about more than our OWLs. You guys said it yourself, the world is a dangerous place."

Hermione's glare hardens and becomes colder, "As long as you do as I told you, and become good enough to pass your OWLs you'll be fine."

Seamus stares at her for a minute, "Will that protect us against Death Eaters?"

Fury bursts up in Hermione's eyes, "You don't even believe Mike!"

Seamus stares at her, "But you do. If you really believe Voldemort's back, you'd help us learn to defend ourselves."

Hermione falters, torn between her fury at Seamus and the others for their attitude towards Mike, and the truth of that statement. Mike sighs, "Enough Hermione. You don't have to tutor them, but I will."

A mixture of smug victory and relief passes over Seamus' face, "Thank you. I knew you'd see things my way. You-"

Mike glares at him, and Seamus immediately shuts up, "I will help, but we're doing it _my_ way. If anyone has a problem with that I suggest you tell them not to even bother showing up, because I'll just kick them out. And another thing, when you go back over there you will make it perfectly clear that if they show up I, and possibly Hermione, are your _teachers_. I don't care what your personal feelings are towards us, you will be respectful and do what you're told. Failing to do so will also get you kicked out. Do I make myself clear?"

Seamus swallows thickly, nervous once again under that piercing gaze, "Crystal."

Mike tilts his head slightly and gives a tiny nod, "Good. Now go away, Hermione and I are reading. I'll tell you once I've got everything set up."

Seamus nods rapidly, then beats a hasty retreat. Hermione glares at his back, then turns back to Mike once Seamus and his group are gone, "Ignoring the fact we just knowingly allowed ourselves to be manipulated, just how precisely do you intend to tutor a bunch of students right under Umbridge's nose?"

Mike raises an eyebrow at her, "I don't."

Hermione frowns in confusion, "Then how, _precisely_ , do you expect to get away with this?"

Mike grins at her, "My dear Hermione, surely you are aware that Professor Flitwick is a dueling champion?"

Hermione's frown deepens briefly, "Yes, of course I am, but I don't see- Oh. _Oh_. You're going to pose the lessons as a dueling club! It would, after all, be quite natural to teach defensive and even a few offensive spells in such a club. With a dueling champion supervising the club, there would be practically no danger to the students, so it would be unlikely that Umbridge would have a solid reason to disband it!"

Mike's grin widens, "Precisely. Plus, if we can get Professor Flitwick to supervise it would even be safer than the quidditch matches. With my status as the Heir to an Ancient and Royal house, Umbridge will have to be fair to me. If I bring up how safe it is compared to quidditch, Umbridge will either have to let the club start, or stop the matches. And we both know the sort of riot Umbridge will have on her hands if she stops quidditch."

Hermione purses in lips in worry, "But what if she tries to turn it around on you? What if she stops quidditch then puts the blame on you? _Politely_ of course, Mr. Important Heir."

Mike shakes his head, "Even then, I could still simply explain what actually happened. Everyone hates Umbridge far more than they distrust me over the Voldemort issue. They'll believe me over her, and it'll still be on her head."

Hermione dips her head in thought. She is silent for a few minutes. Mike lets her think it over to try and find anymore loopholes that Umbridge could use. If Hermione thought of anymore, they'd have a chance to counter them ahead of time.

Eventually though, Hermione slowly nods, "That… just might work actually. So, I suppose we need to pay a visit to Professor Flitwick. I'm sure he'll be on board with the idea. He doesn't like Umbridge or the way she is knowingly neglecting our schooling."

Mike gathers his things, then grins at Hermione again, "I know. Well then, I guess it's time to go have a chat with Professor Flitwick." He and Hermione stand up, and Mike offers his arm with another grin, "Shall we my lady?"

Hermione places her hand into the crook of his elbow with barely concealed amusement, "We shall my good sir. Lead the way."

* * *

November 26th, 2023- 386 days since SAO launch:

Hanna and Kirito were waiting for Argo to show up at the inn they were staying at. They'd heard a rumor about a revival item, and wanted to ask her about it. Seeing Argo enter, Hanna waved at her to get her attention. When she reached their table, Argo sat next to Kirito, "So what do the love birds need of the poor humble Rat?"

Kirito flushed lightly and Hanna rolled her eyes. Ever since they got together, Argo teased them mercilessly. Honestly, she was just glad Argo had stopped making little comments about the quality of her information. She had been insufferably smug at first, since she'd told them both so many times, but neither believed her.

Argo opened her mouth to make some other comment, but Hanna kicked her under the table, "We've heard a rumor we want to ask you about. The rumors about a certain event that's supposed to occur on Christmas eve with a particular drop item."

Argo shrugged, "Nothing really, expect what you already know, if the way you worded your question is any indication. I haven't heard anything about a location or even anything to confirm the rumor."

Kirito sighed, "So it might just be some leftover dialog from the beta then."

Argo nodded, "It's entirely possible. Tell you what though, if I hear anything more you two will be the first to know, for a fee of course."

Hanna hummed, "Alright. We appreciate it Argo."

Argo snorted, "You better. I won't give you details unless you pay me, but you aren't the only ones asking. I've got quite a few people who are keenly interested in it."

Hanna narrowed her eyes, "I don't like the sound of that. Thousand?"

Argo grinned, "Normally? I'd say twelve at least, but I like you Hanna, so a thousand is fine." The thousand col was quickly exchanged, then Argo continued, "I've had inquiries from KOB info gatherers of course, but they seem to believe it's just a rumor. Klein asked about it, but he seemed more concerned about you two going after it than actually wanting it. I'd actually worry about the DDA if you're going after it. They've been _very_ interested in it. They've sent a messenger every day since learning about it. You two know how those guys are. They'll go to great lengths to acquire a rare item, even beating up other players. While I'm sure you two can take care of yourselves, be mindful of them." There were a few moments of silence, then Argo received a message. She read it over quickly, then sighed, "And that would be Asuna wanting to meet up and ask. I guess she doesn't quite believe the rumors are leftover dialog. Anyway, I've gotta go. It was nice seeing you two."

Kirito nodded, "You too Argo, stay safe." Argo nodded with a smile then left. They sat there in silence with each of them lost in their thoughts for a few minutes, then Kirito nudged her to get her attention, "If it's real, Argo is bound to dig up the needed information to find it eventually. The only real question is if we're going for it."

Hanna shrugged, "I definitely want to."

Kirito sighed, "The problem is that the the quest will undoubtedly be difficult already, and with the way the DDA will inevitably be after us for it... but if it really is a revival item... It would definitely be worth it."

Hanna hummed in agreement, "Oh for sure, the problem is, I just don't see how it could be an actual revival item. The NerveGear fries our brain, a digital item in a fake world can't undo that."

Kirito sighed tiredly, "I know. I suppose the only way to find the answers would be to go for the item. That would get the DDA focused on us though, and if the item really is just leftover dialog they won't believe us if we say we don't have it." He pauses momentarily, but Hanna doesn't interrupt him, she could see he was thinking something over. A moment later Kirito refocused on her, "That said... If there is even a tiny chance the item is somehow real, I think the risk is more than worth it."

Hanna shrugged, "The DDA is already interested in our items, they definitely suspect my claw is a rare drop at least. A bit more heat from them shouldn't matter. The difficulty of the quest is barely worth mentioning. We take on difficult quests all the time, this is no different. So yea, if Argo can dig up more info before the event ends, I say we go for it."

Kirito smiled gently at her and nodded. Hanna grinned then leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. She laughed when he turned bright red. She found it rather funny how embarrassed Kirito got when it came to pda. He always became flustered and turned redder than a tomato. Still grinning in mirth, Hanna pulled her flustered mate up and began leading him out of the inn they were staying at. Night was approaching, so with their meeting with Argo finished, it was time to head to the labyrinth.

* * *

December 24th, 2023- 414 days since SAO launch:

Kirito and Hanna were sitting on a bench when Argo walked up to them. She didn't waste any time with greetings and immediately began explaining, "Sorry I'm cutting it so close. So the Christmas event is supposed to take place under a certain fir tree on this floor, which is why I asked you to come here. Apparently, the event is triggered if at least one player is standing near this tree when the clock strikes midnight. If a player is there at that time, a sub-boss will appear. Defeat him and the rumored revival item will supposedly drop. Since I was almost late and I still don't know the precise location, or can even confirm if the item is real, the info is free this time. You two should get going if you're going to try for the item, it's 11:18. Not much time left to find the fir tree."

Hanna shared a glance with Kirito, then they both shot to their feet. Hanna flashed Argo a quick grin, "Thanks Argo, we'll see you later, but we gotta go!"

Argo just waved as they took off. Once they were out of town Hanna glanced at Kirito, "Under a certain fir…. Do you suppose it's _that_ one? The enormous one we found in October?"

Kirito smiled at her, "Ya, I do. Though I suppose we'll only get confirmation if we're in the right place when the boss is supposed to show up. If it doesn't we were wrong."

Hanna sighed, "An all or nothing guess huh? Oh well. Can't be helped, I suppose." Kirito hummed in agreement. For a few minutes they ran in silence, then something caught Hanna's attention and she stopped, "Kirito!"

Her mate quickly glanced at her, "I know. Klein! What are you following us for?"

There was a beat of silence, then Klein and a few members of Fuurinkazan appeared. Klein at least had the decency to look sheepish at getting caught, "You two are as perceptive as always." Hanna made an irritated growling noise, and Klein held up his hands in a placating gesture, "Look, I'm sorry we were following you guys, but we were worried. None of us have any way of knowing how strong this boss is. I figured you two would go after it anyway though, and I was worried you two would get in over your heads."

Hanna sighed, "Thank you for your concern, but Kirito and I can handle ourselves." Hanna narrowed her eyes as she noticed something else, "However, it would seem Kirito and I weren't the only ones being followed."

A moment later members of the DDA revealed themselves. Klein drew his katana as he and Fuurinkazan turned to face the DDA members, "Damn! I'm sorry you two, I didn't even notice them following us. I know you two still want to go after the boss, so we'll hold them off. Just be careful. _Please_. I don't want you two dying over some stupid item that probably doesn't exist."

Kirito nodded even though Klein had his back to them, "Don't worry Klein, we'll be careful. We'll see you later!"

With that, they took off. Almost immediately sounds of fighting broke out behind them, but Hanna didn't hear anyone approaching, so she assumed Klein and Fuurinkazan weren't letting anyone pass them. For 25 minutes they ran through the snow covered forest. Hanna began to worry they wouldn't make it in time, as it was now 11:51. Only nine minutes left.

Hanna pursed her lips momentarily as she watched her clock turn to 11:52, then she turned back to her mate, "Kirito! Only eight minutes!"

Kirito briefly lost his footing at her warning. Hanna had been following a few steps behind, but quickly caught up and grabbed his upper arm, righting him without stopping. As soon as he had regained his footing, Kirito glanced down and to the right to check the time. With a quick curse he grabbed her hand and sped up, "Come on! If I push my agility stat to the limit, we might just make it!"

Hanna glanced at the clock again, then shook her head. Moving past Kirito so he was no longer leading her, she began tugging him as she sped up, "We won't make it at the rate we're going. Just hold on, and try to keep up, or at least keep your feet under you and moving. As long as the system thinks your running, I shouldn't get debuffs to my agility stat since I'm not _technically_ carrying you. Are you ready? I'm gonna speed up more."

Kirito tightened his grip, "I'm ready. Let's go!"

Hanna nodded, then sped up to the limit of her agility stat. She felt the pull on her arm increase as she began dragging Kirito, but as she didn't get a debuff to her agility, she figured she was right. The system still considered Kirito to be running on his own, even though the was actually dragging him.

A few minutes later they arrived at the fir tree. Hanna quickly glanced at her clock. 11:58, they'd made it. Sharing a glance with Kirito, they both opened their menus and pulled out teleport and healing crystals, then put them in their pockets for quick access. With that they both drew their weapons and tensely began waiting. It wasn't long before Hanna heard bells. Sharing a confused glance with Kirito they both looked up. Off in the distance approaching the tree was a flying sleigh.

Hanna stared incredulously, "Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me. I personally never believed in Santa Claus, but really Kayaba? That's just _wrong_."

Kirito made a vaguely agreeing strangled noise, and Hanna nearly giggled. That sound was hilarious, she'd have to see if she could get her mate to make it again some time. At that point the sleigh was over the tree and something jumped off. What landed in front of them was a twisted version of jolly saint Nick, it's health bars quickly filled and it's name appeared, «Nicholas the Renegade».

Just as Hanna began to grow serious for the fight she heard Kirito mutter under his breath, "All those years doing my best to be on the nice list and now I gotta kill Santa? Seriously? I may not believe in Santa anymore, but if I did I'd be screwed. Killing Santa is definitely naughty list material if I've ever heard any."

Hanna couldn't help snickering at that. She quickly had to dodge out of the way of an attack, then she glanced at her mate, "Focus Kirito, and stop making me laugh, this is serious. You can worry about the repercussions of killing a virtual Santa later."

Kirito huffed as he launched an attack at the boss, "I just said I don't believe in him anymore, didn't I? I just think it's wrong, you know? Kayaba is even more messed up in the head than I thought, making players kill Santa. _Santa_ , honestly. What is _**wrong**_ with you Kayaba?"

Hanna sighed as her mate descended into muttering to low even for her to hear. At least he didn't seem to be letting his little tirade distract him, he was fighting as well as he usually did, and he switched when she called for him to. She supposed she'd just have to deal with it for now. She'd probably end up consoling him later. For someone who didn't believe in Santa, he was really worked up over killing a twisted virtual representation of him. She swore on everything she believed in and loved, if this undid all of her hard work in raising Kirito's opinion of himself, she was going to strangle Kayaba.

An hour and a half later Hanna and a still mumbling Kirito made their way back to the clearing they'd left Klein and Fuurinkazan in. They were scattered around, most of them sitting or lying down, and they all looked exhausted. Klein looked over when they walked up, he blinked rapidly in confusion when he saw the muttering sulking Kirito, "Uhh…. Do I even want to know what's wrong with him?"

Hanna didn't even get a chance to open her mouth before Kirito loudly burst out, "Dude, it was Santa! The boss was Santa! I had to kill Santa! My childhood is _ruined_!"

Klein gaped for a few moments then shook his head, "You're joking right? It wasn't actually Santa, right? Well, I mean a virtual version of him." Kirito didn't bother to reply, he just gave Klein a look of pure misery. Klein shook his head again, "Dude, you are _so_ on the naughty list."

Hanna groaned, "Not you too." She paused as she noticed the other members of Fuurinkazan nodding in agreement to Klein's statement, and Kirito all but wilting. She pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh, "You're all idiots. Come on Kirito, let's get back. That fight was exhausting."

Under his breath Kirito mumbled, "And emotionally draining. Seriously, my _childhood_. I'm never going to be able to look at anything Santa related without feeling guilty again. I'm doomed to the naughty list forever. I've probably even damned my descendants to the naughty list too!"

Hanna sighed. Her mate could be an idiot sometimes. As they neared the town plaza to teleport back to the floor their inn was on, Hanna saw something that gave her an idea that would hopefully get Kirito to drop the Santa issue. The plaza had a large Christmas tree near the middle, and there were strings with decorations hanging from them crisscrossing all over the plaza. Hanna glanced up then yanked Kirito over. Having momentarily stopped his muttering when she yanked him, Hanna kissed him fiercely.

A few moments later Hanna started to pull away. Kirito whined and followed after her. Hanna laughed lightly, then gently pushed on his chest. Kirito finally pulled away with a pout, "What was that for? More importantly why'd you stop?"

Hanna pointed upwards with a smile, "There's mistletoe all over the plaza." Then her smile turned into a grin, "And I stopped because we're out in the open. I don't care if anyone sees us, but last I checked you got embarrassed about such things."

Kirito gained a hilariously conflicted look, being torn between wanting another kiss and the fact they were in public. Hanna laughed again then gave him a quick peck, "Come on. The solution to your conundrum is to just get back to our room at the inn. There's no one to see us kissing there."

Kirito visibly perked up, then grabbed her hand and lightly tugged her along, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go back!"

Laughing again, Hanna moved up so she was walking next to him, then she let go of his hand and wrapped her arm around his. She smiled at him, "Kirito?" He made a questioning 'hmm', so she continued, "Merry Christmas."

Kirito paused as he turned to her. He glanced around with flushed cheeks, then kissed her quickly, "Merry Christmas, Hanna."

Hanna was checking her equipment durability as Nicholas had been quite a heavy hitter. Her claw was fine, but she'd need to repair the rest of her equipment before they went to the labyrinth tomorrow. Her attention was pulled from her task as Kirito hesitantly began speaking, "Hanna? So, listen, I've been thinking about something recently and now seemed like a good time to bring it up, since we just got the revival item and all."

Hanna turned to him, slightly worried, "What is it?"

Kirito cleared his throat, "Look, I know it may seem a bit… silly or rushed, since we're in a virtual world and not a real one, and because we're just teens, but I was wondering if you- I mean I just- that is- Would you marry me?"

He blurted the last part out, and Hanna's mouth dropped open in shock. That… was not what she was expecting at all. She forced the shock away when she saw Kirito begin to flush and fidget, he was definitely taking her reaction the wrong way. She smiled as she reached out and ran her fingers through his bangs then trailed her hand down and cupped his cheek. Leaning forward she kissed him briefly, but lingered close when she pulled away, "Silly Kirito. That's not even a real question. The answer is obviously yes."

Kirito smiled widely, pulling her over to him even as he flopped back on the bed, "Awesome. For a minute there I thought I might've screwed things up by rushing this."

Hanna rolled her eyes, then adjusted until she could tuck her head under his chin, "No, but I will admit to being taken completely by surprise and slightly confused."

She felt Kirito pause, but didn't continue. She knew he was replaying their conversation in his head, trying to figure out what it was that confused her, "It was the mention of the revival item wasn't it?" She nodded slightly, "You know married couples share inventory, right? I just meant that while we have the revival item, it's in _your_ inventory, where I can't get to it if anything happened to you. I've been trying to figure out how best to bring up my question, and it seemed as good an opener as any." He paused, then started muttering to himself, "Though now that I think about it, maybe it wasn't. It could've been seen as new trying to coerce you into saying yes…"

Even though he trailed off, she could practically hear him continue the line of thought in his head, so she smacked his chest lightly to get him off that train of thought. He muttered an apology, then comfortable silence settled over them. Twenty minutes of thinking it over later, Hanna shifted after finally reaching a decision, "Marzanna."

Kirito, who had begun rubbing her back at some point, stopped and asked in complete confusion, "What? Err… I've no idea what that's supposed to mean."

She opens her mouth to explain, but remembers a certain conversation they'd had about goddess', so abandons the straightforward answer she was going to give him. She's unable to stop herself from grinning as she replies, "Marzanna. It's a goddess of witchcraft, winter, and death. She's also associated with nightmares."

Hanna knows Kirito, perhaps even better than she knew herself, so she doesn't need to see his expression to know that he finds the explanation familiar. She can all but _feel_ him racking his brain for the answer, but she doesn't need to know him well to tell when he remembers. The sharp intake of breath and the way he freezes are a dead giveaway. Tucked under his chin she hears it quite clearly when he swallows thickly before speaking hesitantly, "Your name." It isn't a question, but she nods anyway as she finally lifts herself up to look at him. He gazes at her in thought as he murmurs her name, testing the way it rolls off his tongue, though his accent changes it a bit from what she's used to, "Marzanna."

Hanna blushes slightly at the look of pure love and slight awe Kirito gives her, "Ya. Don't think you have to tell me your own name or anything I just… wanted to tell you mine."

Kirito smiled at her, "Who says I don't want to tell you mine?" Hanna blushes a bit, then freezes as Kirito continues, "Kazuto. Kirigaya Kazuto. Though, with you being an American, I suppose by your customs it'd be Kazuto Kirigaya."

She returns his smile while playfully replying, "Well, it's nice to meet you Mr. Kirigaya. Though if we're going for full introductions I should've informed you that my last name is Sparda."

Kirito stares at her blankly for a moment, "Please tell me you did _not_ just say your last name is sparta, as in the city in ancient Greece and spartan soldiers."(2) He paused then eyed her, "Though that might explain quite a bit."

She smacked him in the chest lightly for the last comment, "No, though admittedly that's not the first time someone has made that mistake. It's _**Sparda**_ with a D not a T."

Kirito hums in thought, "Sparda Marzanna." Then he gained a mischievous look, "Nope. Still think Sparta suits you better, or at least makes more sense." She smacks him again, and can't help but be amused when he makes a big show of acting like it hurt. Eventually she rolls her eyes and distracts him with a kiss, though it's not long until she is the one distracted.

* * *

January 15th, 2024- 436 days since SAO launch:

Dolores furiously watched everything going on in front of her. Sparda, the insolent mudblood, and the disgusting halfbreed were setting up for the Merlin damned dueling club. She'd been furious when the formal request for the club was received by the headmaster, and had immediately contacted the Minister after hearing Sparda's quidditch defense. This was _precisely_ what Minister Fudge had sent her to Hogwarts to prevent, but between the Sparda's heritage as an Ancient and Royal house, and the absolute riot she'd have on her hands if she tried to cancel quidditch, her hands were tied.

The Minister was horribly panicked by the turn of events, but eventually after she made him calm down he'd ordered her to delay the club's creation as long as she could while he attempted to find or, if he had to, create a way to put a stop to it. The first attempt to delay it, was to question whether the filthy halfbreed really had the necessary skills to ensure the students safety. After all he'd been out of the dueling circuit for at least 20 years. Her inquiries were not received well by anyone, and even worse were immediately refuted.

Then she made a new educational decree that stated that official club applications had to be approved by the High Inquisitor rather than the headmaster, and that all previous clubs were disbanded, therefore requiring new applications to be submitted to her for approval. She immediately approved the house quidditch teams first as they fell under the definition of what counted as a club per the educational decree. She didn't want a riot after all. She'd looked over the dueling clubs application and happily denied it on the grounds that she found it unfair that it was an exclusive club that wouldn't let just anyone join. She had hoped, but knew it was unlikely, that might be the end of it. She was entirely unsurprised to receive a new application for the dueling club, now open to anyone over third year, as was a school requirement of all clubs and extracurricular activities. She again managed to deny it, this time on the grounds that the club took place too early, and would take place during some of the very last class of the day for the seventh years.

After she hadn't received a new application for over a week, she dared to hope that perhaps Sparda had been beaten down. She now realized how foolish that hope had been.

The next thing to occur was Sparda going through the trouble of making an actual appointment with her. Not knowing what he wanted up speak to her about, she accepted out of curiosity. He and the mudblood brought the application in personally, so as to be able to fix any reason she could think of to deny them a third time. She'd nitpicked at the application for half an hour with the two countering any excuse she could think of immediately. In a final attempt to put a stop to the club, she attempted to deny them under the claim that the club would undermine her and her lessons as the DADA professor. That was smoothly shot down by Sparda. He said he was willing to briefly go over the legality of each spell he taught, and that if she ever taught a specific spell in class that he would be more than happy to go over it further during the club. With no other options left, she was forced to approve the club.

Which brought her to now. She'd insisted that she have the right to observe the club whenever she wished. She was hoping to find a reason to disband the club, though she wasn't optimistic that she would. The three running the club, Sparda, the mudblood, and that filthy halfbreed, were finishing setting up for the club

.

* * *

Mike glanced around to make sure there was nothing else that needed to be done before they opened the door and officially started the club. Beside him, Hermione pursed her lips, "Mike, are you sure it's a good idea to let Umbridge be here? She'll surely be looking for any excuse to stop us."

Mike glanced at her, "She insisted. She wouldn't have approved the club otherwise, so there's nothing to be done about it."

Professor Flitwick nodded lightly, "Indeed. It shouldn't be an issue though. As long as club members stick to the rules we set up, Umbridge should find no reason to disband the club. Now, I believe that's all the preparation needed to be done, so go ahead and let the students in when you're ready."

Mike glanced at Hermione and nodded, silently telling her he was ready. Without hesitation, she moved over to the door and opened it. Students immediately began filling the room. Some hesitated at seeing him on the raised dueling platform, and a few incredibly rude students turned around and left the moment they realized he was in charge of the club. There was doubtful murmuring among the students, no doubt questioning if they should allow the nutcase who claimed Voldemort was back to teach them.

There were a few who stood out though. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan caught his eye first. The twins both flashed encouraging grins and Lee gave him a thumbs up. Next to catch his attention were Ronald Weasley and Zacharias Smith, both scowling fiercely. Though whereas Ronald looked away with gritted teeth when Mike looked at him, Smith glared at him as soon as their gazes locked. Then the runes Hermione put on the door notified him of an animagus. Ignoring Smith, he turned his gaze to the door, where Malfoy had just entered with Crabbe and Goyle. Mike tilted his head, while Hermione had threatened to reveal that Rita Skeeter was an unregistered animagus, she'd only demanded Rita report the truth. Chances were that Malfoy and Skeeter believed he'd start going on about Voldemort. If he did, Skeeter wouldn't need to lie to write something nasty about him that fit with the smear campaign on Dumbledore and himself. He had no intention of even mentioning Voldemort, though even if he did, he wondered how Skeeter planned to convince her editor to put it in the Daily Prophet. The Prophet had been made aware of his new official status as Heir to the Sparda family, and while they hadn't made the information public, they had quietly stopped the smear campaign against him and shifted their entire focus to Dumbledore.

Mike glanced at Hermione. She looked very annoyed since the runes has informed her as well, so he nudged her with his arm. When she gave him a questioning look, he gave her a 'don't worry about it' shrug. She sighed, but nodded. Turning back to the assembled students, Mike stepped forward and cleared his throat, "Good afternoon. The first meeting of the dueling club will now begin. First of all-"

Mike wasn't really surprised to be cut off by someone, even less so considering the Ravenclaw and her friends had been giving him doubtful looks since they came in, "Wait a second, are you really leading the club Potter? When Professor Flitwick announced a dueling club we thought it'd be run by a professor like the Astronomy club or the Ancient Runes club." The girl gestured to herself and her friends, "I don't know about everyone else here, but we're sixth years, how are we supposed to learn _anything_ from a fifth year?"

Mike sighed, "What's your name?"

"Heather Hodhedge."

Mike nodded, "Miss Hodhedge, Professor Flitwick will be helping me out, but if you still feel I can't teach you anything I'd be more than happy to prove you wrong. A duel should suffice seeing as that's what this club is, right? If I win, I'll have proven there are things I can teach you, of course you're still welcome to leave anyway."

Heather paused in thought for a moment, then nodded and made her way over to the dueling platform. Hermione and Flitwick stepped off the platform, and Flitwick moved to activate the rune based safety wards placed around the platform. Mike stopped him by holding up his hand, "Please wait a moment Professor. I'd like to even the duel a bit. Hmm, let's see. Zacharias Smith, why don't you join Miss Hodhedge."

Both of them jerked, and Heather glared, "Excuse me? Do you think I need someone else's help to beat you? You're even more arrogant than I thought."

Mike smiled lightly at her, "Humor me for a moment."

Heather pursed her lips, but nodded tensely. Smith scowled as he climbed onto the platform, "I don't see why we have to duel you together. I could take you myself."

Mike tilted his head at them still smiling, "We'll see. Go ahead Professor."

Flitwick nodded and activated the wards, "Right, I'll be brief. The wards will stop any spells from leaving the platform, this is for the safety of everyone else. Be careful though, spells will bounce off the wards. Also, for duels like this with more than two people, the wards will prevent anything bad happening via someone getting hit with multiple spells at the same time, so don't worry. I'm overseeing all duels, so it's over when I say it is. If you don't stop when I tell you to, you'll be kicked out of the club immediately. The duel is over when one side is either knocked out, is unable to continue, or forfeits. Understood?" The three of them nodded, "Then if you're ready? Bow to your opponent. You may begin."

Mike casually sidestepped the spell Hodhedge immediately sent his way, then twisted out of the way of Smith's stunner. For a few minutes he easily dodged their spells without even bothering to bring his wand up. After five minutes, he stopped. Smith had doubled over heaving in breaths a minute ago, and Hodhedge had paused, now similarly out of breath due to all the spells they'd cast in rapid succession.

He tilted his head at them, "You two would be doing much better if you'd work together."

Smith glared at him still panting heavily, "Sh... Shut... up... We are…. working….. to-… together…."

Mike shook his head, "No, you aren't. You both just happen to be casting at the same opponent. Personally, if I had a dueling partner, I'd have one of us focus on offense and the other on defense."

Hodhedge frowned, "You weren't casting."

The protest sounded weak to everyone in the room, even Hodhedge herself. Mike raised an eyebrow, "Are you saying you would've worked together if I had been? I don't think that's true Miss Hodhedge. Though even if that _was_ the case, you could've just had the person on defense acting as support. Have them cast a tripping jinx, or a leg lock, really anything to stop me from dodging the offenses spells would've worked. You two look like you've caught your breath, feel free to continue whenever."

There was a pause, then Hodhedge shifted, "My offensive magic isn't terrible, but I'm better at defence. So unless you'd prefer to be defense?"

Smith scowled, "No. I want to be offence."

Hodhedge nodded. Mike grinned, "Well, if you two have that all worked out, I suppose I should start casting as well. If you're ready?"

His answer was a tripping jinx/Stunner combo. He grinned as he deflected the tripping jinx with a small shield on his wand and twisted out of the way of the stunner, "That's better! Hodhedge, be a bit more creative with your spells. Smith, surely you know more than stunning and disarming spells?"

He smiled approvingly at Hodhedge when she sprayed his feet and legs with Aguamenti, then froze him in place. He blocked Smith's follow-up stunner, then quickly broke free with a low powered Delebo he'd learned from his sister.

The next few minutes passed in much the same way, with Hodhedge becoming increasingly creative with her spells and him continuously attempting to get Smith to do so as well with no results. Eventually he decided the duel had gone on long enough and cast a spell he'd learned from Wæter Wiccedom. The spell in question conjured a sphere of water(3), the size of the sphere entirely dependent on the amount of power put into the spell, and Mike put enough in to encase both of them. Smith immediately dropped his wand in shock, and Mike quickly summoned it. Hodhedge managed to keep a hold of her wand for a moment, and nearly succeed in casting a non verbal bubble head charm, but ended up losing her wand to the turbulent water. He quickly summoned Hodhedge's wand as well, then let the spell go.

Getting rid of the water with a spell, he nodded at Hodhedge, "That was good. Clever use of your spells. Distracting me with Avis then stopping my casting for a minute with Langlock was particularly ingenious, though it would've been better if you'd followed up by freezing me in place as you did earlier, or tripped me. Other than that, an overall outstanding performance miss Hodhedge. Mr. Smith, you could've benefited from being a bit more creative. Hodhedge created more than a few openings for you, but you wasted them by being predictable with your stunners and disarming charms. You two can step down now."

He dried the two off and handed them their wands back as they passed him. Hodhedge accepted hers with a respectful nod, and he smiled in return. Smith on the other hand all but ripped his wand out of Mike's hand with an angry growl. Mike frowned at him, but said nothing. He surveyed the room briefly. It would seem that though he'd quelled most of the students doubts he'd pissed of Smith and Umbridge. That could be problematic. Smith, from what little he knew, could be a pain in the ass. Umbridge was more worrisome, especially since she was already against him, but her hands were mostly tied since he'd been officially named the Sparda heir.

Mike sighed. He'd just have to be careful and take the problems as they came.

* * *

February 22nd 2024- 474 days since SAO launch:

Hanna and Kirito were on their way to the labyrinth of the 50th floor, which had just been opened three days ago, when a desperate man begging everyone who passed by to help him caught their attention. She and Kirito shared a glance before approaching.

She gave the man a weary look, while Kirito stepped towards him, "Err, are you alright?"

The man whirled around to them desperately, "Please help me, _please_."

Hanna shifted, "What do you need?"

The man glanced away briefly, "Everyone who's bothered to listen for even a moment has called me a fool, but I need help bringing criminals to justice."

Hanna and Kirito both tensed slightly. They'd finish hearing the man out, but if he was wanting them to kill anyone, they'd refuse. Kirito looked hesitant, "Who are these criminals and what exactly did they do?"

The man sniffed lightly, tears in his eyes, "They're an orange guild known as Titan's Hand. Eight days ago, they attacked me and my guild, the Silver Flags, and demanded that we give them all of our belongings. At first we refused, as we believed that since they were only an orange guild and not red that they wouldn't kill us, but we were wrong. They killed our guild leader when we wouldn't cooperate. After they'd taken everything, even our clothes, they killed everyone but me. They told me it was so that I could spread the word not to defy their guild. When I tried to tell them that I couldn't tell anyone anything if I was dead, and that I wouldn't make it back without any equipment, they laughed at me. Their guild leader, a woman named Rosalia, found it particularly amusing. She gave me back my sword alone, and told me to try my hardest to make it back to town without dying. Then they left me there. I ran as fast as I could and avoided fighting as much as possible and somehow made it back."

Hanna eyed him for a moment, trying to tell if he was lying, then decided he was being honest, "And now you want justice. What exactly do you want us to do?"

The man looked her in the eye, "You've heard of the prison on the first floor, correct? How it's programmed to be impossible for players with orange or red cursors to leave?" She shared another glance with Kirito before nodding at the man, "I've bought a corridor Crystal and set the destination as the prison. I just need someone to track this guild down and somehow force or trick them to go through. I just don't want them to be able to hurt or kill anyone else until this stupid game is cleared and they can face the court of law for murder."

Hanna could see that Kirito had already decided he wanted to help the man, but stopped him before he could agree. There was something about the man's story that was bothering her, "Wait a second. If you were robbed of everything but your sword a mere eight days ago, how did you afford a corridor Crystal?"

The man startled them when he started crying at her question. After a few minutes he calmed enough to give a shaky answer, "I've never really been a social person, so there's never been anyone I could really call my friend, and my brother was the only family I had left. He was playing this game with me. To be specific, he was the leader of our guild. I'm sure you've heard of «Argo the Rat» and her rather famous ability to acquire any item or information you need. After losing everything, the only thing I had left was the possibility of getting justice and stopping those criminals from repeating what they did to me and my guild to anyone else. So after I made it back to town, I sold my weapon for some lower class gear, and threw myself into grinding in the hopes of purchasing a corridor Crystal from her. It's not like I had anything left to lose, so I wasn't cautious in my grinding in the slightest. Two days ago I finally got enough col to purchase the Crystal. I've been staying by the teleport gate on the frontlines begging anyone who'd listen to help me since."

Hanna could tell the man was telling the truth, and she felt for the man's plight. She wanted to help him. That said, they had no idea how long this would take, and they couldn't afford to spend a lot of time helping this man. She glanced at Kirito again, he was all but pleading with his eyes for them to help the man. She sighed and held up a hand at him briefly, asking him to give her a few more moments.

She turned back to the man who was glancing between them, clearly a bit confused at their interaction. She cleared her throat to get his attention, "I'm still not sure if we can help you, so I'd like to ask you some questions." The man nodded, "What can you tell me about the guild itself?"

The man sighed, "Not much. As I said previously, a woman named Rosalia is their guild leader. She's a redheaded spear user, and the only one that I know of with a green cursor. When we initially saw her she appeared to be fighting an orange player. We approached to help, but were ambushed by six other orange players who'd been hiding. So I know they have at least eight members including Rosalia, but I don't know if there are more."

Kirito hummed, "Probably not. That new red guild, Laughing Coffin, is the first criminal guild to recruit en masse. Up till they came along, the largest criminal guild I'd heard of had twelve players, but the average is seven."

Hanna nodded, "Do you have any idea where we could find this guild. It doesn't need to be an exact location, just a floor would be helpful."

The man glanced away, "Not precisely. I paid Argo to look into the guild, and in the past two months all their activity has been on the 35th, 36th, and 37th floors. My guild was attacked on the 35th floor if that helps any."

Hanna frowned slightly. "Three floors was a lot of ground to cover…"

The man bit his lip when she trailed off unsurely, "I've heard they're extremely interested in rare items. Particularly ones worth a lot of col."

Hanna snorted, "Most everyone is these days it seems. Still, it helps a bit. If we can find what floor they're on, we can let it 'slip' that we have a particularly rare item. It might lure them out." She thought for a minute more, then sighed, "You realize that even if we find them, there's no guarantee we can get them all? Anyone in particular you'd like us to prioritize?"

The man nodded, "I know. I'd be content with the capture of Rosalia and a particular guild member. I don't know his name, but he has black hair, wears glasses, and fights with a curved sword and buckler."

Hanna thought about that for a minute, "Alright. Why them in particular if I might ask?"

The man looked down, "I'm not foolish enough to think they'll stop unless they're all caught, but throwing Rosalia in prison might slow them down. And the black haired man… The black haired man is the one who killed by brother."

Kirito contemplated the man for a minute, "You know, most people would want revenge in the manner of 'eye for an eye'. They'd want him dead. I'm glad you're not asking for us to do that though. I want to help you, but I couldn't if you would want them dead."

The man looked at the ground, "To be honest, I did at first. Originally I wanted to set the corridor Crystal to someplace that would undoubtedly kill them, but as I was trying to figure out how to set a waypoint on my map for the Crystal without getting myself killed, I realized that my brother wouldn't want that. He wouldn't want me to stoop to their level. He always believed strongly in the justice system, so I decided to do what he would've done if our positions had been reversed. I'll let you check the location of the Crystal if you don't believe me before you make your decision, I'll understand why you wouldn't want to trust me. But similarly, I'll inform you that I'm not stupid enough to blindly trust other people. I've locked the Crystals destination to the prison, so if you're just trying to trick me out of my Crystal it's useless. I've already had three people try."

Hanna nodded, "I'd like to check the Crystal please."

The man nodded, then opened his menu and manipulated it briefly. A moment later it became viewable and he pushed it over to them to read. Hanna looked it over before nodding in satisfaction. Then she glanced at Kirito. He was back to pleading with his eyes, so she sighed, "Alright, we'll try to help. Though we can only spare three or four days, so if we don't find them in time we'll have to give up."

The man nodded, "I understand. All I can ask is that you do your best."

Kirito smiled lightly, "Of course. How do we contact you when we're done? Even if we fail we'll need to return the Crystal."

The man tilted his head, "I suppose we could temporarily friend each other for convenience sake if you're fine with that method."

Kirito nodded in agreement, and the man quickly sent him a friend request which Kirito accepted after glancing at it, "We'll do our best Manu-san(4)."

The man nodded gratefully. Hanna thought he must've been really desperate to not care that it was Kirito, 'The black swordsman' and 'Beater', that he just accepted help from. Either desperate or hoping that Kirito's reputation as one of the _best_ in the game was well earned. It was of course, but a ridiculous number of people questioned it.

* * *

February 23, 2024- 475 days since SAO launch:

Hanna navigated through the Forest of Wandering with their map, Kirito was following closely behind her. Since it was the last place the Titan's Hand had been seen, it was were they were looking for clues to their whereabouts first. Night had fallen a while ago, and they had decided that they'd done as much as they could today. On their way back to town though, they heard a loud scream. They barely spared a glance at one another before taking off towards the sound. They arrived just in time to see a tamed beast die.

The young girl it belonged to seemed to snap when it died, and begin attacking the three «Drunken Apes» with reckless fury. She seemed particularly intent on one ape, all but ignoring the other two as she charged it. Once that one was dead she turned to the next and charged that one, even though her health was already in the red, and she was charging straight into an attack without seeming to care.(5)

Kirito was quick to rush forward and kill both of the «Drunken Apes» with a one hit high damage sword skill. She moved next to him and scanned around for more mobs as he slowly sheathed his sword so as to not frighten the suddenly afraid girl even more. He stared at her for a moment before murmuring quietly, "I'm sorry I couldn't save your friend."

At those words the girl started crying and her dagger slipped from her hand. The moment she spotted the feather her familiar had dropped she fell to her knees in front of it. The girl clutched herself while staring at the feather and crying, "Please….. don't leave me… Pina….."

Kirito looked distinctly uncomfortable and hesitated a moment, "I'm really sorry…."

The girl lifted her gaze to Kirito, then replied with clear difficulty due to her crying, "No….. I was…. being stupid… Thank you….. for saving me….."

Kirito hesitated, then quietly asked, "... That feather, does it have an item name by any chance?"

She immediately understood where Kirito's thought process was going, and shot him a questioning look. They'd already agreed to help Manu, considering what he wanted and why, it would be plain cruel to abandon his task on a whim. And this girl clearly couldn't make it to «The Hill of Memories» on her own.

Kirito ignored her and the girl wiped the tears from her eyes and gave Kirito a confused look. Then she hesitantly reached for the feather and clicked it. A moment later an item description menu, which was viewable to all players, appeared showing it's name to be «Pina's Heart».

The girl immediately teared up again, but before she could begin crying a slightly panicked Kirito cut in, "Wait, wait, wait. If a heart item was left behind then you can revive it."

The girl lifted her head sharply, "What?!"

Kirito nodded, "It's something that was discovered recently, so it's still not common knowledge. There's a dungeon in the northern region of the 47th floor called «The Hill of Memories». It's quite hard despite its name… but I've heard that the flower that blooms on the top of it is a familiar revival ite-"

The suddenly hopeful girl shot to her feet and cut Kirito off with a shout, "Re-really!?" Then something seemed to occur to the girl and she slumped in a disheartened manner muttering to herself, "... But it's the 47th floor….. I'm no where near ready for that…"

Kirito hummed thoughtfully, "I could go get it for you if you give me the expenses and some pay, but they say that the flower only shows up if the beast tamer who lost their familiar goes…"

The girl smiled warmly at Kirito, "No… I'm happy with the information you gave me. If I work hard to raise my level, someday I'll be able to…"

Kirito was quick to correct her assumption that she had an unlimited amount of time, "You can't do it that way. I've heard that you can only revive the familiar within four days after it was killed. After that, the item's name will change from «Heart» to «Remains»."

The girl looked alarmed, "What?!"

The girl seemed to slump into herself, then she picked the feather up and clutched it to her chest as she teared up again. Hanna is completely unsurprised when Kirito gives her an inquiring look, as he isn't going to give any of her stuff away without her consent. She gives an exasperated nod, and he immediately opens a trade window with the girl and begins depositing items. A plus of being married to Kirito was that she could see the window without him having to make it viewable, the equipment he deposited was mostly their spares, though the dagger was a rare drop that they hadn't had a chance to sell yet. They may have gotten in a comfortable enough position to finally be a bit generous, but it still sometimes left her fondly exasperated at how much of a bleeding heart Kirito had.

The girl looked at them in confusion, and Kirito casually explained, "These should cover four or five levels. If we go with you it should be fine."

The girl lifted her gaze from the trade menu to Kirito, "What?" She stared at him in shock for a few moments before murmuring, "Why….. are you being so kind?"

Kirito looked embarrassed, "... I'll only tell you if you promise not to laugh."

The girl nodded firmly, "I won't."

Kirito looked away in embarrassment, "It's because….. you look like my sister….."

Hanna gave Kirito an amused look, and the girl covered her mouth as she tried to hide her giggles. Kirito gave the girl a hurt look and his shoulders slumped in a sulking manger, which only made the girl laugh harder. Kirito pouted and muttered in embarrassment, "You said you wouldn't laugh…."

Silica got her laughter under control and with a smile said, "Thank you, I hope we get along. You saved me and even offered to do something like this for me…." She turned her gaze back to the trade window and bit her lip briefly before adding col. From the looks of the rather odd number, she'd guess it was all the girl had. The girl cut into her thoughts hesitantly, "I suppose this is to little, but…"

Kirito shook his head and removed the col from the trade window, "No, you don't have to pay. They were spares anyway, and this coincides with why we came here."

The girl hesitated, clearly unsure about just taking their stuff without giving them anything in return. With one last hesitant glance at them, she accepted the trade. Then smiled at them, "Really…. Thank you so much…. Oh! I almost forgot, I'm Silica!"

Kirito smiled lightly, "I'm Kirito, and this is Hanna."

Hanna smiled and nodded in greeting, "Nice to meet you."

The girl smiled back broadly, "You as well Hanna-san!"

* * *

Hanna looked around with as much curiosity as Kirito, but subtly rather than his open fascination. The only time they came down to the lower floors was when they needed a specific item or wanted to do a quest on a lower floor, both of which were very rare occurrences, and they never hung around afterwards. So neither of them had been around when the mid-level players returned to the towns of the lower floors after a day of questing and grinding.

It was so much more lively than the front line towns, and there were a lot more people. She was pulled from her observing when two male players approached them, or rather, approached Silica. One of them immediately began talking to her, "Hey Silica! We heard you left your previous party, so we were wondering if you'd thought about joining ours?"

Silica looked uncomfortable, "Errm, well, thank you for the offer but…" She suddenly grabbed the arm of Kirito's coat and gestured to Hanna with her other hand, "I'm going to be in a party with these two for a while."

The two males looked shocked, and the other one blurted loudly, "What?! Seriously?!"

They looked at Kirito suspiciously completely ignoring her, the first one who talked frowned at Kirito, "You're a new face, but you shouldn't cut in line. We've had our eyes on Silica for a while now."

Kirito rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, "Well I didn't know. Circumstances made this a rather sudden development."

Silica pouted briefly, then gave an apologetic smile to them, "Actually, it's something I requested. He's helping me with something a bit out of my league." She than began to tug Kirito away calling back to them, "I'm really sorry. I'm send you a message next time, ok?"

Hanna followed silently, she'd practically been forgotten in the entire exchange. It was surreal. The players didn't immediately recognize Kirito and her. Something that hadn't happened since less than a month after they became the first Beaters.

Silica moved quickly, and once they couldn't see the other players anymore she let out a sigh as she turned to Kirito, "... I- I'm sorry, for making you go through all this trouble."

Kirito smiled lightly as though he was completely unbothered. He probably was actually, being disliked because he 'stole' someone's party member was a lot less stressful than being hated as a Beater, "It's fine." He gave Silica a look of curiosity, "Silica-san is pretty popular. Barely left your last party and people are already clamoring to get you to join theirs."

Silica glanced away, "Please just call me Scilica… It's not because I'm popular, they're just trying to get me in their party as a sort of mascot, really. But… I thought that I was special… and tried to exit the forest on my own…. and ended up…."

Her eyes began to tear up again, and Kirito quickly reassured her, "It's alright. We'll get Pina back, I promise, so don't cry, ok?"

Silica wiped her tears and smiled at Kirito. Eventually they came up to a two story inn. Silica seemed to abruptly think of something as she turned to Kirito flushed in embarrassment, "Ahh, I brought us here without even thinking about it. You probably wanna go back to your own home." Then she tilted her head in thought, "Where is your home anyway?"

Kirito smiled lightly again, "Currently we were just staying in an inn on the 50th floor."

Silica looked briefly confused, then glanced at her and flushed lightly in embarrassment. Huh, she'd been completely forgotten. That hadn't happened since she lived with Potter. Hanna shook those thoughts from her head and turned to Kirito, "It's too much of a hassle to go all the way to the teleport gate, and teleport up to the 50th, only to come back down in the morning. Let's just stay here tonight."

Kirito nodded, and the still flushed Silica smiled a bit as she glanced between them, "Ahh, ok!" Then she turned back to the inn and proclaimed, "The cheesecake here is really good!"

She was just about to lead them inside when four players exited a shop next door to the inn. They didn't seem to notice them, but Silica tensed a bit and looked like she was about to hurry inside when the only female in the group glanced their way. The woman grinned in a way that immediately made her suspicious, then called out, "Oh, is that you Silica?"

Silica tensed a bit more then slowly turned back to the woman, "Yes…"

The other members of the party turned around quickly, there were cries of Silica's name as relief washed over the other their faces, and unlike the red heads theirs was clearly genuine.

The woman, a red headed spear user, which only made her more suspicions of her, grinned wider, "Ho, you somehow managed to get out of the forest. That's a relief." Then she smirked a bit, "But you're too late. We've already distributed the items."

Silica bristled a bit, "I said I don't need them. I'm busy at the moment so goodbye!"

Something unpleasant flickered across the woman's face, she clearly hated being dismissed in such a manner, then a cruel gleam entered her eyes, "Hmm? Where's that lizard of yours?"

Hanna narrowed her eyes. It was pretty common knowledge that you couldn't put familiars in your inventory or entrust them to other people. This woman undoubtedly knew that. Plus it was exceedingly obvious even to her and Kirito who'd only known Silica for an hour and a half tops that the girl loved her familiar deeply. As her previous party member the woman definitely knew that too, if the look in her eyes way any indication was rubbing it in on purpose.

Seeing Silica tear up again, Hanna scowled. Though she'd never put up with it, she'd been on the receiving end of bullying attempts ever since she started her magical education due to her heritage. She would **not** tolerate it, and especially not when it was such a sweet girl like Silica. Channeling every ounce of her inner Vergil and natural demonic rage, she glared fiercely at the woman, who took a step back in freight, "Back off bitch."

The woman recoiled as if slapped, her party and Silica gaped at her in shock, then the red head flushed with anger, "How dare you! Being so rude to a complete stranger!"

Hanna shrugged then pointed lazily at herself, "American. We have a tendency to speak our minds. On the other hand, if there's something I've noticed about Japanese people in general, it's that you're very conservative and overly polite."

The woman scowls, then looks at Silica, "Hm! Throwing in with such a rude sort. I'd thought better of you Silica."

Silica frowned at the red head, "They aren't rude! They're gonna help me revive Pina!"

The woman raised her eyebrows in sudden interest, momentarily forgetting about her, "Ho, so you're going to the «Hill of Memories»? But can you get through it at your level?"

Kirito stepped in front of Silica, hiding her behind his coat as though to protect her. Good, he had the same suspicious about the woman as she did. He stared the woman down with narrowed eyes, "She can. It's not that hard of a dungeon anyway."

Rosalia looked Kirito up and down, looking thoroughly unimpressed, "Another one that fell for her? You don't look all that strong."

Hanna frowned at the woman, "That's gross." At everyone's, minus Kirito, startled expressions she rolled her eyes, "I don't know how old Silica actually is, but she _looks_ 11\. That's so not ok to think about a girl who looks eleven _at_ _all_. Though looking as young as she does, she is admittedly childishly cute. So either you're gross as fuck, or you _really_ need to think how you phrase things, because you're giving people a _very_ bad impression. The kind that lands you in prison for pedophilia." She paused briefly then tacked on, "Plus, he's my boyfriend, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't associate him with such gross tendencies. It won't turn out well for you if you persist."

A bit of a crowd had gathered wanting to know what was happening with Silica, who was apparently well known to the mid-level players. They were now all blatantly staring at the woman. Some just looked weary, others looked at her with mistrust, while some gave the woman looks of outright disgust.

The woman flushed in mortification, "That's not-! I just meant-! I was just referring the fact that all the guys are always clamoring for her attention because she's _so_ _**cute**_." The woman sneered the last part mockingly, "I bet she's already been harassed by some dumb guys wanting the _great_ Silica to join their party, hasn't she?"

Hanna gave her a deadpan look, "Are you seriously _jealous_ of a girl that can't be more than 13 years old? You've gotta be, what, at least 20? That's just sad. The green of envy looks ugly on anyone, but you wear it particularly badly."

The woman flushed more, "Me?! Jealous of that- that little- brat?! As _if_! You- you-"

Abruptly Kirito cut across her, "You might want to stop there miss. You've already made quite the fool of yourself."

The woman looked around briefly, and her face finally turned red enough to match her hair. She glared at them, hissing a threatening, "This isn't over!"

Then she turned and stormed away. Her party members hesitated, then the leader seemed to reach a decision, "I don't know how long you're partying with these people Silica-chan, but you're welcome to rejoin the party whenever you want. Rosalia was completely out of line earlier when she withheld healing potions from you, but I'm _definitely_ kicking her out after this outburst."

Silica looked startled, then nodded with a smile, "I'm only partying with them briefly, so I'd love to rejoin the party once I'm done, as long as Rosalia is gone anyway. I'll message you when we're done doing what we partied for, ok?"

The male nodded with a smile, then he and his two party members left. Kirito glanced at her, and she grinned lightly in return. It would seem their prey had practically been handed to them on a silver platter.

* * *

(1): In case anyone is wondering why Hermione is treating the situation so differently than she did in canon. It's because my Hermione didn't have _any_ friends until Mike in fourth year, and was other bullied.

(2): I don't know if this happened to anyone else, but when I was first introduced to the Devil May Cry franchise this kinda happened to me. The first Devil May Cry I owned was 4 and the way Sanctus says Sparda seriously sounded like Sparta to me at first. Sorry if this little… joke to myself confused any of you.

(3): Basically the spell Dumbledore cast on Voldemort. Originally I was thinking less along the lines of the dork Dumbledore uses and more along the lines of Juvia from Fairy Tail's Water Lock or Naruto's Water Prison, but I changed my mind.

(4): I've developed a bit of a habit of going to name meaning sites and just typing in something, usually just whatever popped into my head first of it's a side character like this, then selecting the one I like the sound of best whenever I need a name in my fics. In this case the random thing was bird. Manu apparently means bird of the night in Tahitian.

(5): If you haven't read the light novels this is probably confusing, but in them while Silica does freeze up and Pina does take a fatal blow for her, she doesn't just sit there like she does in the anime. In the novel she kinda snaps and charges the ape that killed Pina before pretty much kamikazeing the other two. I decided to go with the light novel version of this event as the anime version was downright pathetic, whereas the light novel version is a _little_ badass to me.


	18. Two birds, One stone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in a month?! Just what is the world coming to! I'm just kidding. So, I can't think of a moniker for Hanna. I mean, Kirito is called The Black Swordsman, and Asuna is The Flash, but I can't think of one for Hanna. Ideas are welcome. That's all I have to say about this chapter, enjoy!

February 23, 2024- 475 days since SAO launch:

Rosalia kicked the table over in rage. After they ran into that little brat and those two nobodies, she'd been kicked out of the party. It wasn't that big of a deal, as the only real reason she'd joined the party to begin with was to lure them into an ambush after they'd gotten some good stuff and a nice amount of money. No what infuriated her was the smart mouthed _bitch_ that got her kicked out to begin with, _and_ took a shot at her reputation in one fell swoop.

None of her guild seemed to want to draw her attention to them, seeing as she'd been wrecking the house they owned for the last half hour in her fury, but her second in command, a black haired glasses wearing man named Yoru, hesitantly spoke up, "Rosalia… It- It's not that bad. Please calm do-"

She whirled around to him, "Calm down?! You were watching from the crowd weren't you?! Didn't you hear the way she spoke to me?! No one talks to me that way and gets away with it! No one! _Especially_ not some bratty little bimbo!" She scowled furiously at the floor for a bit, then turned her gaze to the two 'spies' of their guild, "Go find out everything you can about that bitch and her little boyfriend."

Yoru shifted nervously, "Rosalia, shouldn't we be focusing on-"

She glared at him, "On _what_ Yoru? Finding me a new party to trick? That brat Silica was involved in tonight's events, so word will spread rather far amongst the mid-level players. We _might_ be able to luck out and find some idiots who don't know, but it's more likely that we'll have to wait a bit for the gossip to stop. And besides, those brats are going after the «Pneuma Flower». An item like that will be worth a nice bit of col." She shrugged casually, "Going after them will kill two birds with one stone. I'll get that bitch back and we'll all make a nice profit off the flower. The only downside is that their gear didn't look all that special, so I doubt they'll have much else on them worth more than pocket change." She made an impatient shoo motion with her hand, "Now go dig up as much as you can about them. I want to utterly destroy them tomorrow."

Yoru and the two 'spies' got up and turned to leave, before Rosalia called out to them, "Oh, and Yoru?" He turned only to have Rosalia's spear stop an inch from his eye as she pinned him with a rather terrifying glare, "Don't you _**ever**_ question my orders again, understand?"

Yoru nodded quickly, "Never again Rosalia, I promise."

Rosalia pulled her weapon away and casually rested it on her shoulder, "Good. Now go. You three better not come back until you can tell me exactly who those two are."

Then she turned and walked away. Yoru breathed a sigh of relief. None of them believed that 'death game' bullshit, and you couldn't feel pain in Aincrad, but Rosalia could be terrifying anyway. There was a reason she was the guild leader despite technically being their weakest member. Yoru shook his head, then turned back to the other two, "You heard the lady, let's go!"

* * *

Hanna gave Kirito a look as they entered their room, "Ok, I'll admit it worked out since we found Rosalia, but what were you thinking, offering to escort Silica when we'd already agreed to help Manu?"

Kirito gave her a surprised look as he sat at the table in the room, "I thought it was obvious. The Pneuma Flower is a rare item, and would be worth quite a bit. I merely thought we could kill two birds with one stone. We help Silica, and draw Titan's Hand out with the Pneuma Flower. Titan's Hand is only a mid-level guild, it should be rather easy for the two of us to take care of them and protect Silica at the same time. Though, I concede that I don't like the idea of **using** Silica at all, it's the best option to be able to help both her and Manu-san. That said, I'll admit that I didn't expect the guild to fall into our laps so easily." He looked away, before frowning, "It worries me that Rosalia was in a party with Silica though. The only reason I can think of that she'd be joining parties for, is to lure them into ambushes. If that's the case, how many people have they killed without anyone knowing?"

Hanna gave Kirito a look, she knew what was going through his head without needing to ask, "You can't fix every problem in the world Kazuto, whether it's the real one or Aincrad."

Kirito sighed heavily, "I know, but the criminals in Aincrad are finding new ways to trick, hurt, and kill innocent people. It makes me sick."

Hanna flopped onto her back on the bed, "It's like that in the real world to Kazuto. No matter where you go, there's always going to be people like that."

Kirito sighed, "I know that, but…. Maybe we should push for the front liners to do something. Pking was already a major issue, but with that new criminal guild 'Laughing Coffin' it's gotten worse. Not only are they getting larger at an astonishing rate, but they're inspiring other criminal players in the worst way possible. Something needs to be done before it gets even more out of hand."

Hanna sighed, "I know, but with how focused on clearing the game the front liners are, it'll be difficult to convince them to spare the time to do something about it."

For a few minutes there was a heavy silence hanging in the air. Then Hanna looked over at Kirito, "Sooo… Onto less depressing matters! Does she really look like your sister? Or were you just trying to make her feel better?"

Kirito looked startled at the sudden question, "Well, I wasn't precisely lying…. I suppose it's less of a matter of her _looking_ like Sugu and more a matter that she just reminded me of her for some reason, even though they have next to nothing in common."

Hanna turned on her side to face him and propped her head up with her hand, "Sugu, huh? Were you close?"

Kirito sighed sadly, "Suguha actually, I just call her Sugu, but no, we haven't been particularly close in a while… We used to be when we were younger, but….. I….. found out I was adopted when I was 10. I wasn't completely unrelated to my adoptive family, as my adoptive mother was actually my aunt. Her sister and brother-in-law, my birth parents, died in an accident when I was one, and she took me in and raised me. After I found out, I felt like I'd been living a lie. I just kept thinking things like, 'I don't belong here', 'you aren't actually my sister', or 'you aren't my real mom'. So I kinda pushed them away…. It was only after we found out that this was a death game that I realized how much of a mistake that was. It's probably…. my biggest regret….." He stared off into space for a minute, then shook his head and turned back to her, "What about you Marzanna? Do you have siblings?"

Hanna hummed, and looked away in thought, "Well, I have a twin brother, but…. Well, it's complicated, but the short version is my mom was forced to marry an abusive asshole, so she had an affair with my dad to get back at the bastard. My mom managed to get away from him and married my dad when I was six, but Mike, my twin, ended up staying with…. my stepfather." She said the term with utter disgust, and frowned heavily before refocusing, "I didn't see my brother for years…. However…. Well, it's kinda the opposite of you and Suguha. I grew up with my cousin from my dad's side, and even though he was just my cousin, he was always there for me, you know? I remember in particular, that when I started attending a new school when I was eleven, some of the students tried to bully me. I never put up with it, but it was definitely frustrating. He realized something was wrong within a week, and took me up to his room where we played video games and rocked out while he waited for me to be ready to talk. He mostly just listened to me rant, but he gave me some great advice as well. After that, he made it a point to hang out with me everyday after school. The only time he didn't was when he had to work, and even then he always made it up to me later. He was definitely more of a big brother to me then a cousin."

Kirito smiled in a regretful manner, "I wish I'd acted like that to Sugu… I mean, she's never had a problem with being bullied, but I still wish I'd been there for her."

Hanna sat up looking at him wide eyed, "I didn't mean-"

Kirito grinned at her, "I know. It's alright. Ever since this death game started, I've promised myself that if I make it back, I'll be a better big brother to Sugu, and try to make it up to her for pushing her away for so long. If anything, hearing about your cousin just gives me a standard to hold myself to."

Hanna relaxed at his reassurance, then gave him a teasing smile, "I don't know. Nero was the most awesome big brother a girl could ask for. You sure you're up for the task?"

He laughed, "Well, I can certainly try my best!" There were a few moments of comfortable silence, then Kirito turned to her again, "I remember…. That when we were arguing right after we became Beaters…. You said something about being hated and discriminated against. Were you talking about being bullied?"

Hanna sighed, "Partially…. My family…. aren't like other people… No matter where we go, there's always people who discriminate against us." She paused and smiled bitterly, "Well, I suppose, if you think about it, it's that way for everyone to some extent. It probably just sounds like whining to say this, but my family has always had it worse then most. It doesn't really matter much. Me and my family aren't the type to let it really get to us, it's just a bit frustrating at times. It's led to me being more intolerant than most when it comes to bullies. To be honest, that's why I reacted so harshly to Rosalia earlier. She was bullying Silica."

Kirito nodded thoughtfully. A moment later there was a knock on the door, after sharing a quick confused glance, Kirito answered the door. A very hesitant looking Silica was on the other side, Kirito gave her a look of curiosity, "Silica? It's rather late, did you need something?"

Silica shifted nervously, "Err, sorry. You weren't about to go to sleep were you? … I just- it occurred to me that I forgot to ask you about the 47th floor. Never- Never mind. I didn't realize how late it was, sorry!"

Kirito quickly glanced back at her and she shrugged in return. He turned back to Silica, "No, it's alright. We weren't going to sleep yet. Come on in."

Silica hesitated again, then entered. She stared at the bed in confusion for a moment, then turned red. Hanna was confused, until she realized how her and Kirito sharing a bed would seem to a girl as innocent as Silica. She was honestly surprised it even crossed the younger girls mind.

Kirito pulled Silica's attention away when he removed an item from their inventory. The item in question was a box with what looked like a small crystal ball in the middle. The ball caught the light of the room's lantern and seemed to shine, briefly mesmerizing Silica, "Pretty….." She refocused on Kirito, "What is that?"

Kirito smiled lightly at her innocent reaction, "It's called a «Mirage Sphere»."

Kirito clicked the item and quickly navigated the menu that popped up. As soon as he was done, the sphere began projecting a hologram of the 47th floor in its entirety. Silica looked amazed, and this time both of them grinned. Kirito quickly pointed to a town on the map and a dot appeared where he touched, "This is «Floria», the main town of the 47th floor, and where we'll be teleporting to." Then he moved his finger over to the northern part of the map and another dot appeared, "The Hill of Memories is here." He moved his finger back to Floria and started carefully tracing a line between the two dots, "This is the route we'll be taking. If you can remember it, that's good, but don't worry if you can't, Hanna and I will lead you there. The floor is themed like a garden, so all the monsters are plants. The ones around the Hill of Memories tend to try and grab you wit-"

Kirito abruptly stopped talking and turned sharply to the door. He stared at it intently for a minute, much to Silica's confusion, "Kirito? Wha-"

He pressed his finger to his lips and made a sharp, "Shh!" He stared at the door for a moment more. Then he burst into action, moving over to the door and throwing it open in a split second, "Who's there?!"

The sound of footsteps running away was his only answer. Silica looked on in confused alarm, "Wha-What is it?"

Kirito was quiet for a moment, leaning out the door watching the stairs intently. Then he pulled back and closed the door, "Someone was eavesdropping."

Silica only looked more confused, and Hanna couldn't help but think that she really was too innocent, "Huh? But you can't hear anything past a wall. And how'd you even know they were there anyway?"

Hanna sighed, "You can actually, if you've got a high enough «Listening» skill. There are really only two types of people who train the listening skill. Criminals who want to eavesdrop on conversations, and people like Kirito who mostly use it to know when they're being spied on, and to be able to detect when monsters or players are coming from a further distance than line of site."

Silica was wide eyed, "Oh! I knew you could use listening to hear things coming, but I never knew you could hear through walls with it!"

Kirito nodded a bit solemnly, "I'm not saying you should be paranoid Silica, but never assume that it's impossible for people to overhear you. Not just because of the listening skill, but because if someone really wants to know what you're talking about, they'll probably find someway around the systems rules."

Silica nodded hesitantly, so Hanna reached over and tugged lightly on the end of one of her pigtails. She grinned when Silica turned to her with a pout, "Don't worry so much. While he's partly right, he's also making it sound worse then it is. He's a big worrywart, so he tends to be overly concerned about things."

Kirito gave her an annoyed look, muttering lowly, "I'm _not_ a worrywart! I just like-"

Hanna grinned at Silica, as she said in perfect unison with Kirito, "-to take into account all possible outcomes and problems."

Kirito pouted at her, and Silica giggled, "You guys have been together for a while, haven't you?"

Kirito flushed slightly, "I suppose. We've been a party since the day this death game started, but we've only been dating for seven months."

Silica tilted her head, "You guys have been in a party since the beginning? Did you know each other before?"

Hanna shook her head, "No. We met just a few minutes before Kayaba teleported everyone to the plaza. We left as soon as he finished his so called 'tutorial'."

Silica looked startled, "Really?" At their nods she seemed even more shocked, "Then you guys were probably the first to leave the Town of Beginnings. I thought that the original front liners were the first to leave."

Hanna glanced at Kirito, "Well…. We are front liners…"

Silica's mouth dropped open, "Seriously?! But then, what are you guys doing down here?"

Kirito shrugged, "Someone asked us to help them with something, which is why we were in the forest that late."

Silica bit her lip, "But…. If you guys are front liners… Then you don't really have that much time to hang around the lower levels….. Is it really ok to help me out when you already said you'd help someone else?"

Hanna ruffled her hair, "It's fine. We can do both at the same time, you just need to trust us, ok?"

Silica stared up at her unsurely for a moment, then smiled widely, "Ok!"

Hanna smiled in return, "Good. And on that note, I think it's time for you to go to bed. It's getting rather late, and we'll be leaving early tomorrow."

Silica pouted a bit, but nodded as she got up, "Oh alright. Goodnight."

Kirito put the Mirage Sphere away, "Goodnight Silica."

Hanna nodded, "Night. Oh, and make sure your alarm is set to seven."

Silica nodded and left.

* * *

Yoru waited impatiently for the 'spy' he'd sent to eavesdrop to return. He was irritated when the man came barreling out of the building, and hurried over to the alley he was waiting in, "What the hell are you doing? You were barely gone for five minutes!"

The man watched the inn door for a minute, then seemed to relax and turned to him, "The guy has the listening skill. He realized I was there rather quickly. They were going over their plans for tomorrow. The only things of worth I heard, are that they have one of those expensive Mirage Spheres, and Silica called them Kirito and Hanna."

Yoru jerked, "The Beaters? Are you certain?"

The other man shifted nervously, "Well, that's what I heard. They might just be fooling the girl…."

Yoru narrowed his eyes in thought, "I don't think they are….. Now that I think about it, they _do_ match the description of the two….. The black swordsman alone would be a problem, but his little girlfriend too….. Come on, we need to tell Rosalia. If they really _are_ the Beaters we need to either abandon this or prepare, and knowing Rosalia, we're going through with it…. I just hope we have enough time to figure out a solid plan…."

* * *

It was late, but Mike was in the hospital with some of his family. It was Marzanna's monthly meeting with Kikuoka. With him were the males of the family and his mother, who was currently on the phone with Kikuoka. He glanced at her as she finished her call, "What was that about?"

His mother shrugged, "Kikuoka is going to be about an hour late. He knows that even if it's Friday you only have a finite amount of time. He said to use the time while we're waiting to visit Marzanna, as he's going to need the rest of your time for his check in with her."

Mike shrugged, "Alright then. Is the device setup?" His mother nodded, "Then I'm going in."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he focused on his bond with Marzanna. A moment later he felt it, the feeling like gravity had shifted ninety degrees and he'd moved with it. Then he was sinking face first, not into water but something much thicker. Another moment, and he felt like he fell out of the fluid on the other side. He opened his eyes as he stepped forward into Marzanna's mind. Shaking his head to get rid of the fuzziness in his head he glanced behind him briefly.

The first few times he'd entered Marzanna's mind, the horrible state of their bond made for a rough entrance. He'd felt like a meteor crashing into her mind. With their bond now repaired though, it was more like stepping through a doorway, or it was supposed to be anyway. With Marzanna being her usual strange self, it was more like stepping through a mirror with the viscosity of syrup. In fact behind him was a shimmering mirror like object, though it was already pooling into a puddle and disappearing.

He refocuses when Nero's voice comes through the floating diamond, "Is she not here yet? Marzanna is usually right there when you appear."

Mike tilts his head as he concentrates for a moment, "No, she's here. I think she's asleep…. Though she knew today was the monthly meeting with Kikuoka, so either she forgot or she fell asleep waiting. I can sense where she is in her mind though, so it's not really a problem."

He heard his mother hum, "I would say we should just let her sleep, but she needs to speak to Kikuoka later anyway. Go ahead and go find her."

Mike nodded, then set off in the direction he could sense Marzanna in. Eventually he rounded a bookshelf to find the ghostly area he saw the first time he was here, except it was a lot more defined now. Everything had color, though it was off a bit, and everything seemed blurry.

From the diamond he heard his mother draw in a sharp breath. He glanced over at it, but before he could say anything his dad spoke up in concern, "Lily? What's wrong?"

His mother took a few moments to reply, and her voice was shaky when she did, "That place. I've seen something similar in my own mind when I practiced occlumency."

Vergil sighed, "If that's the case I doubt it's anything bad. So why are you getting so worked up?"

Lily was quiet for another moment, then murmured almost to low for Mike to hear, "That- It's…. the representation of a soulmate bond…" There was an almost physical silence at that quiet proclamation. Then his mother broke it again by clearing her throat before speaking at a more normal volume, "Before a person meets their soulmate, it appears as a white mist. As they get to know their soulmate and become closer to them, it slowly forms into objects. The closer soulmates get, the more defined it becomes. Eventually it looks like that, with most things looking a bit off and only a few things in full color. At that point, the only thing you're waiting for is a bonding ritual. Only once that's done will everything gain their full colors, and lose the blurriness by 'clicking' into place. But….. usually it takes _years_ to get to the stage Marzanna's is in… How…"

There was another silence before Nero broke it, "So…. Marzanna has found her soulmate, and is possibly in a relationship with them? That's a good thing isn't it?"

In response Dante made a growling noise, Vergil huffed in irritation, Lily gave a rather enthusiastic yes, and grandpa Sparta, who'd fully adopted the name Alessio since even some of the people in the family got confused, made a pleased hum. There was another beat of silence where Mike could all but _see_ the four in disagreement giving each other surprised looks.

His mother's displeased voice came through the diamond a moment later, "Dante, Vergil, would you care to explain _why_ you seem to think this is a bad thing."

Mike could nearly hear the scowl that was surely on his dad's face, "Lily, sweetie, that's my baby girl… I'm not gonna have some boy who's probably a rude, disrespectful, womanizing bastard chasing after her."

Lily snorted, "You do realize that _you_ used to to a womanizing bastard yourself right? You changed because you found me, your soulmate. Furthermore, I doubt Marzanna would have a rude disrespectful mate. Soulmates generally share a lot of their views, including how people should be treated."

Vergil huffed again, "If Marzanna is mated to some human, he'd likely hurt her. Even if unintentionally. Humans don't really understand devils, much less Nephilim. Or he could end up getting himself killed."

Alessio sighed, "I understand why you're being overprotective, she's the baby of the family, but in case you're forgetting Vergil, you, Dante, and Nero were all mated to humans. While I will concede that yours died, something _you_ must take into account is that you and your mate were on your own. The entire family is together now, and has even gained more members that aren't strictly related to us, but are nonetheless family. They wouldn't let anything happen. Lily is also correct. Knowing Marzanna, it is highly unlikely she'd have a bad person for a mate."

Dante made a growling noise, and Lily replied in a warning tone, "Dante…."

Mike coughed, "Normally I'm not the type to get between my parents when they're arguing, but if I may? The first time I was brought to see Marzanna and our bond tried to resynchronize, I saw quite a few of her memories. I'm fairly certain I know who her mate is. Judging by this area I'm fairly certain it's her party member, Kirito. He's a very kind, caring person, though he does have a low opinion of himself. Mostly because he's the type to feel like every time something bad happens, there was surely something that could've been done to prevent it. Even if he logically knows he couldn't have done anything himself, he still often blames himself anyway. From what I saw of her memories, Marzanna acts both as his voice of reason as to _exactly_ why it's not his fault, as well as attempting to convince him that he's not total scum just because he couldn't help **everyone**."

There was a beat of silence, then his grandfather sighed, "The self blaming sort usually have low self esteem of themselves, but they also tend to be very honorable because of that. They always strive to be better people because they have such low opinions of themselves. If you're right about her mate, we have even less reason to worry about the type of person he is. Of course, we could just wake Marzanna and ask her…"

Mike nodded and eyed the enormous bed taking up at least 60% of the area. It was completely surrounded by a pitch black canopy, and even though it was made of a sheer material, it was thick and layered, making it so he could barely make out the figure laying on it. Moving over to it, he pushed the canopy open. Marzanna was sound asleep in the middle of the bed with her back to him. The bed was so large, even kneeling on the edge of it he had to stretch out almost completely to reach Marzanna.

She stirred when he shook her shoulder, then rolled over and gave him a sleepy look of confusion. Sitting up and rubbing her eyes, she yawned widely before speaking, "Mike? What are you doing here?"

He snorted, "So you did forget. It's your monthly meeting with Kikuoka remember?"

Marzanna stared at him blankly for a minute, "... Must've slipped my mind. Suppose it doesn't matter much, I'm awake now."

Mike tilted his head at her, "I'm surprised you didn't wake up sooner to be honest, with how loudly everyone else was bickering."

Marzanna looked surprised, "You guys were arguing?" At Mike's nod she shook her head, "Huh… Usually I'm a pretty light sleeper….." A bemused grin filtered over her lips, "Kazuto must be rubbing off on me."

Mike looked confused, "Kazuto?"

Marzanna glanced at him, "My party member. Kirito is his in game screen name. His real life name is Kazuto. He's a sleepy head, so it can be a bit of a challenge to get him to wake up. Anyway, is Kikuoka ready?"

Mike shook his head, "Kikuoka isn't here yet. He got held up by something, but he'll be here later. More importantly, is Kirito your soulmate?"

Marzanna jerked at the sudden question, "What? Why… Well yes, but how-"

Mike tilted his head, "Marzanna, why don't you look to see where we are."

She stared at him in confusion for a moment, then glanced around. As soon as she realized where they were she turned bright red, "...Oh….."

Dante growled again, "Little bastard better not try anything or hurt you."

Marzanna looked at the floating diamond with a strange combination of offence and bemusement, "Kazuto's not like that, dad."

Dante scoffed, and in a manner as though it explained everything, bluntly stated, "He's a boy. A _teenage_ boy."

Lily made a frustrated noise, and Mike rolled his eyes at his parents, then gave Marzanna a teasing grin, "So, you finally with him or are you still beating around the bush."

Marzanna flushed then narrowed her eyes at her brother, "We're together. How about you? You still pussy footing around, or did you grow a pair and ask out Hermione?"

Mike looked away in a failed attempt to hide his own blush, "... No…."

Abruptly both her parents spoke up at the same time, though their lines of thought were completely different, even if the topic was the same.

Their mother seemed annoyed, "Wait a second! Mike's got a crush?! Why I'm I only just finding out this?! And why didn't I know about Marzanna's soulmate?!"

On the other hand Dante sounded horrified and betrayed, "What?! Mike you **knew**?! You're my son, you're supposed to tell me these things! I _**trusted**_ you!"

Mike and Marzanna both stared at the diamond for a moment before sharing a glance, Marzanna jabbed her thumb at the diamond with a roll of her eyes, " _ **Parents**_."

Mike nodded sagely in return to the single word. He glanced around the area again before giving Marzanna another teasing look, "Your mate is kind of a nerd isn't he?"

Marzanna laughed, " _Oh_ , you have no **idea**. He's not just a mega nerd, he's a major geek too. Not that you're one to talk, Hermione's a nerd as well."

Mike grinned happily, "Don't I know it! She'll chatter my ear off about nearly anything. Not that I'm really complaining. She's adorable when she gets excited."

Marzanna nodded with a smile of her own, "I know, right?! Kazuto does it too. He went full geek mode the other day. I mentioned something about Aincrad's programming and he totally geeked out and went on and on about programming for what must've been an hour and a half. I didn't understand even a quarter of what he was saying, but it was really freaking adorable anyway." She paused then grinned, "Can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that both of our romantic internets are adorable nerdy geeks?"

Mike gave another sage nod, " _Definitely_. Nerdy geeks are the best. They're just too adorable for their own good."

The two grinned, and shared a high five before Nero's amused voice cut into their conversation, "You guys must get it from Dante. Aunt Lily it's kind of a nerd too." Then he slyly added, "So, if you think about it, since everyone is born with a soulmate, the fact that Marzanna has found her very own nerdy mate is partially your fault Dante."

Much to the amusement of the twins, their dad made a rather hilarious noise that was somewhere between offended, disbelieving, and protesting, "This isn't my fault! This-"

Their mother cut across him sternly, "-is absolutely _wonderful_ , and unless you want to sleep on the couch for the next **month** , you'll leave it be _sweetheart_."

Dante grumbled, but didn't say anything more. Marzanna shared another grin with Mike. The moment their eyes met, Marzanna began giggling and Mike descended into snickering. Marzanna shook her head. She had wanted to tell her family herself, but hadn't quite decided how. She certainly hadn't wanted them to find out about her and Kazuto like that. Her mom seemed happy at least, though her dad…. Well, it could've gone better. Could've gone worse too, so she'd just accept the situation for what it was. It's not like her dad would hurt Kazuto…. Right?

* * *

February 24, 2024- 476 days since SAO launch:

Hanna woke up to her alarm rather abruptly. Looking up at Kirito from his chest, she found him still sound asleep despite the fact she knew his alarm was going off. Shifting up so she was propped on her elbow, she grinned in amusement before reaching out with her other hand and carding her fingers through his bangs, "Kirito. It's time to wake up sleepy head."

Kirito mumbled something unintelligible, then rolled into her. Her grin grew, though she pushed him back and ignored his protesting whine, "Come on, it's time to get up."

"Nooooooo….. It's time for more sleep…"

Hanna shook her head at her mates antics, "Hmm. I think not mister. I think it's time to go get ready before we head out." She waited a moment for a response, then upped the ante, "There will be food….. Delicious appetizing breakfast….."

Kirito cracked an eye open and gave her a sleepy contemplating look, "Hmmmmm… You have a very good point…... Delicious food, or cuddle with you some more? Hmmm decisions, decisions… Nope, I think I'll take staying in bed with you."

With that he closed his eye again, and pulled her closer. Hanna laughed lightly, "Well, I'm touched you'd choose me over food, but we really have to get going."

The only response she got was a vaguely disagreeing grumble. She hummed in thought, then grinned. Leaning down she kissed her mate. Kirito gave a sigh of contentment, and lazily deepened the kiss. After a few moments she began slowly pulling away. Predictably, Kirito whined and chased after her. She continued to slowly pull away, but carefully didn't end the kiss so Kirito would continue to follow.

When she finally broke the kiss she grinned at her mate, "Hey, look at that! You're sitting up!"

Kirito looked a bit confused then seemed to realize what she'd done and pouted, "That's cheating!"

She just continued to grin unrepentantly, "Finally awake sleeping beauty?"

Kirito huffed, "What's with you and nicknames? First I'm sleepy head, then I'm worrywart, now I'm sleeping beauty?" He gave her a rather petulant glare, "Considering my new _nickname_ , and the fact you totally _cheated_ , I'm tempted to just go back go back to sleep." Then he gave a haughty sniff, "But I don't want to cuddle with a cheater like you anymore. So yes, I suppose I'm up now."

Hanna was barely keeping herself from laughing, "Well, I _am_ a Beater. Cheating is half the job."

Kirito glared lightly at her, "Yes, but you aren't supposed to cheat when it comes to other Beaters."

Hanna's tone and expression were utterly amused, "Oh, is that right?"

Kirito nodded firmly, "Yes. It's in the Beater handbook. Page 3,479, paragraph 4, 'All Beaters shall be courteous and fair to their fellow Beaters.' The exact quote in case you were wondering."

Hanna was trying her best not to laugh, "My sincerest apologies, love. I must not have gotten that far."

Kirito only managed to keep a straight face for another minute before his mates laughter got to him. Shaking his head with a smile he climbed out of bed, "Come on, we need to get ready. Silica and Manu are counting on us, and I want to get some of those really good sausage like things before we head out. By some, I of course mean at least twenty, so we need to get moving if I'm going to have time to eat breakfast _and_ those."

Hanna shook her head in exasperation, "Honestly, if you eat like this all the time, I can't even begin to comprehend how you stay so skinny irl, and I know you are since the NerveGear got a general idea of our bodies during its fake calibration."

Kirito sighed sadly, "My mom works pretty much all day everyday as an editor for a magazine about technology, specifically computers. She always does her best to be there for us, but her job usually has her leaving very early and coming home rather later. So me and my sister have to do a lot of stuff ourselves. That includes cooking. Except my knowledge of cooking is _extremely_ limited and my sister is similar. The only thing I've ever seen her make are salads and sandwiches, and she rarely makes the latter. My own knowledge is so limited the only thing I can really do is help her with those two things. This depressingly means I pretty much eat salads for every meal of the day, every day, unless I can convince Sugu to make sandwiches."

Hanna gives him a look of mock pity, " _Oh_ , poor, poor Kazuto." Then she turns thoughtful, "At least you've got _some_ cooking skill. I can _theoretically_ make a sandwich, but I've never actually tried." At her mates obvious confusion she gave him a slightly smug look, "My cousins wife and my mom are awesome cooks, and even though they could take part in the family business, they choose to take care of the house and our family instead. Hell, my cousins wife, Kyrie, actually gets offended if you try to make your own food or order take out and stuff when she's home."

Kirito gave her an envious look, "Some people have all the luck."

* * *

Hanna was listening to Silica and Kirito's idle chatter as she followed them. She occasionally added a comments and remarks, but for the most part she stayed out of it. After Kirito comparing her to his sister, Silica seemed to start thinking of him as a big brother, if the way she talked to him was anything to go by. The younger girl seemed to be enjoying having a temporary 'big brother', so Hanna was content to fade into the background for now and let the girl hog Kirito's attention for a bit. Plus, Kirito seemed to be enjoying having another little sister.

She wondered if the girl realized that this wouldn't be the only time she saw Kirito. From the way she acted, Silica certainly thought so. There was a slight edge of sadness to the girl, it was rather obvious she was not looking forward to when she'd have to say goodbye to them. Hanna knew better though. Kirito had become fond of Silica already. When they were done helping her out, he wouldn't say goodbye. He'd likely send her a friend request and stay in contact, even if they didn't get another chance to meet up before this game was beaten.

Hanna was abruptly pulled from her musings by Silica crying out. Looking up, she saw that a mob best described as a giant venus fly trap had grabbed Silica and was dangling her over it's open mouth. Silica was wildly swinging her dagger at thin air, holding onto her skirt and shouting for Kirito to save her without looking. Kirito had covered his face so he wouldn't see her panties in case they showed, but was peaking through the gaps in between his fingers in mild concern.

Hanna was about to help Silica when said girl apparently lost her temper. Shouting at the mob in anger, she let go of her skirt in order to grab onto one of the mobs vines, before pulling herself up and cutting herself free. Twisting around as she fell, she slashed at the mob's head, hitting its weak spot and killing it instantly.

Grabbing onto her skirt again, she looked at Kirito slightly teary eyed, "You didn't see, did you?"

Kirito closed the gap between his fingers, "... No."

Hanna rolled her eyes, then gave Silica a small smile, "I know it may seem difficult sometimes Silica, but just keep your head in those types of situations and you'll be fine. If you hadn't panicked and been so worried about your skirt, you'd have been able to get free sooner."

Silica turned her watery eyes onto her, "But….. My panties would've shown…."

Hanna nodded, "Yes, but would you rather have someone see your panties, or die to a mob you can clearly kill? I know we can all sometimes find ourselves in embarrassing situations, especially us girls, but it's better to be embarrassed than dead, ya?"

Silica flushed but nodded her understanding.

Kirito shifted, "Is it safe to look yet?"

She scoffed lightly. He may not have meant to see anything, since he'd only been peaking out of concern for Silica, but he'd seen the entire exchange between the mob and Silica. He knew very well it was safe. She tilted her head. Now that she thought about it, he was probably only pretending he didn't see anything for Silica's peace of mind.

Hanna shook her thoughts off as Silica straightened and quickly checked her skirt, "...Yes, it's ok now."

Kirito carefully peaked before slowly removing his hand, "All settled then? Well, let's get moving. The sooner we get the «Pneuma Flower» the sooner you can revive Pina."

An adorable look of determination swept over Silica's face, and she nodded firmly.

* * *

As they neared the top of the hill, Silica ran forward excitedly. As Kirito and Hanna watched from a distance, a flower began to bloom on an altar like rock. Hanna hung back a bit as Kirito approached the girl and flower. When he drew even with her, Silica gave him an unsure look.

Kirito gave an encouraging smile in return and nodded, "Go on, take it."

Silica carefully picked the flower, like she was scared it would shatter into polygons the moment she touched it. She relaxed as soon as the pop-up telling her she'd acquired the item appeared, then gave Kirito a slightly tearful smile, "I can finally revive Pina…."

Kirito patted her head, "Yep, but let's wait til we get back to town, ok? There are a lot of strong mobs around, and we wouldn't want Pina to get hurt again."

Silica wiped her tears away and moved firmly, "Ya!" She looked down at the flower in longing, then carefully deposited it into her inventory, before murmuring almost too low to hear, "Just wait a bit longer Pina. I'll revive you, then tell you all about my day. I promise."

At Silica's words, Kirito seemed to realize something, and glanced back at her. Looking away a strange expression took over his features. Hanna shifted uncomfortably. For once, she couldn't understand what was going through his head, but the sadness in his gaze…. She wanted to talk to him, find out what was bothering him, and sooth him if she could. She glanced at Silica. It would have to wait though. She wouldn't breach what was most likely a sensitive topic with others nearby.

She cleared her throat, "We've got the flower, so let's head back. No reason to linger when Pina's waiting for you Silica. And Kirito and I still need to tend to that other business."

Silica jolted, before turning to her and nodding, "Right! Sorry to keep you waiting, I'm ready to leave now!"

Hanna nodded absently. As much as she liked Silica, and as much as she wanted to help Manu, right now she was focused on her mate. However, she couldn't figure out what was bothering him until they'd escorted Silica back safely, and dealt with Titan's Hand, which was undoubtedly waiting to ambush them on the path back. She twitched slightly. Her instincts wanted her to tend to her mate and were very difficult to suppress. It grated against her in every way to ignore them. Titan's Hand better hope Kirito dealt with them before she did. She just _knew_ that by the time they reached them, she was going to be…. irritable. It did **not** feel good to practically ignore her mate, and she was already becoming annoyed.

* * *

Kirito put his arm in front of Silica to stop her, then momentarily ignored her confusion, "I know you're there, come out!"

There was a beat of silence, and Silica looked at Kirito with unsure confusion. Then Rosalia stepped out from behind a tree. She was smirking faintly, but seemed a bit tense, "You must have a pretty high Searching skill to detect me. I guess I underestimated you a bit."

Hanna narrowed her eyes. For a woman who underestimated them, she certainly seemed a little too weary. Silica looked even more confused, "Rosalia-san? What are you doing here?"

Hanna scoffed, "Isn't it obvious? She and her little guild buddies, who are trying to hide, are attempting to rob us." Then she snorted as she noticed something, "Not doing a very good job at the hiding part though, it doesn't bode well for their robbing skills. For them anyway. Fucks sake, that person in the bushes has his toes sticking out."

Rosalia wiped around, and scowled fiercely as she saw that there was, indeed, the edge of a boot peaking from a bush. Silica on the other hand, had only gotten more confused, "But…. Rosalia's got a green cursor. That means she's not a criminal…"

Kirito shook his head, "It's a simple trick, Silica. A group of criminals makes sure a few of their players keep green cursors so they can go into towns unhindered."

Rosalia growled at the man as her companions all revealed themselves, then turned back to them with a false smile, "He's new. Won't be for much longer though." The guy began to look nervous, but went ignored as Rosalia narrowed her eyes at them, "You seem to know who we are, yet you don't seem to bothered. It gives a bit of weight to Yoru's suspicions. See _**he**_ seems to think you two are front liners. And not just _any_ old front liners, but _Kirito and Hanna_ , the **best** front liners."

Hanna grinned a bit, "Well, he's not wrong. Though if you know that, it was rather foolish of you to try and rob us anyway."

Rosalia glared at her, "Ah, but I don't really believe it. Why would such important front liners, _**Beaters**_ in fact, be down on the 47th floor, wasting their time with an arrogant little brat? It just doesn't add up. Even if you really _are_ Hanna and Kirito though, even you shouldn't be able to take on nine people at once. Front liners have some really good gear, probably quite a bit of money too."

Kirito narrowed his eyes, "Watch it, _Rosalia_. I don't appreciate people treating to my girlfriend in such a manner. As for why we're here….. 10 days ago, you attacked a guild known as the Silver Flags. You killed all but one of them, and left him there to die. He didn't though, he made it back to town and made some money. Once he had enough, he bought a Corridor Crystal and set it to the «Black Iron Prison». He went up to the front lines and stood near the teleport gate everyday begging any who would listen to send you to jail for what you did."

Rosalia laughed mockingly, "That guy-! You people-! You guys actually _believe_ that nonsense about this being a death game?" She scoffed loudly, "We may be stuck here, but there's no proof we'll die in real life just because we die here! Honestly, you're all taking this much too seriously! And you two! Helping him? Really?"

She rolled her eyes at them still snickering in amusement with her guildmates. Kirito glared at her with all the ferocity of a dragon, "Shut up." The command was so intense the members of Titan's Hand followed it immediately, before shifting uneasily under Kirito's fiery gaze. Kirito took a deep breath, then began murmuring just barely loud enough for everyone to hear, "You people make me sick. Don't you even realize what you've done? If the NerveGear was really incapable of killing us, why wouldn't the people outside just remove them? And if Kayaba is insane enough to make it capable of killing us, he's definitely crazy enough to have made this a death game. You _**murdered**_ at _least_ eight people! And then you have the **audacity** to laugh about it… You- You people-"

Kirito had been steadily waking forward, before stopping halfway between Titan's Hand and them. He cut off unable to continue and shook his head. Looking at the guild in fury and disgust. Rosalia glared at him, then glanced at her companions, "Kill him."

Nine of the guild immediately attacked Kirito, who just stood there. Silica shouted in alarm and took a step forward as she clutched her dagger, but Hanna grabbed her arm, "Don't. You'll only be in the way." At Silica's unsure look, she sighed, "Look at his health bar."

Silica watched it for a moment, then looked baffled and glanced at her in question. She merely shook her head and gestured to Kirito as the players disengaged in confusion. Kirito lifted his head, "All nine of you only do about 400 damage every ten seconds. I'm level 82, and my HP is 16,000. Normally, if I just stood here and let you go at it, I'd be dead in about six and a half minutes. However, my «Battle Healing» skill allows me to automatically regain 850 HP every ten seconds. In other words, I could stand here all day letting you guys hit me as much as you want and you would be able to defeat me."

The would be bandits looked uneasy, and murmurs of disbelief broke out at Kirito's declaration. Kirito silenced then with a look, "It's completely possible. It's what's so unreasonable about level based MMORPG's, from the moment they start the difference between players becomes increasingly unbalanced. A difference in a few numbers will make a ridiculous disparity in strength!"

The people who had been attacking Kirito backed away a bit as though afraid. Rosalia pulled a Teleport Crystal from her pocket with an annoyed tsk. Hanna immediately pulled a throwing dagger and nailed the Crystal before she could use it. The impact shattered both, and Rosalia glared at her again. She just grinned smugly at her as she saw Kirito slowly let go of the throwing pick he'd been reaching for. Even if she hadn't stopped Rosalia, Kirito would've.

Rosalia then grabbed something else from her pocket and held it up, it was a small glass vial, "That's quite enough. Do you know what this is? This was **extremely** hard to get. It's a level 71 airborne poison. My people have immunity to it already, but if this vial breaks, even _you_ two will be dead in seconds. I honestly thought you two weren't really frontliners, but I thought it was better to be safe than sorry. I'm glad I prepared this." Rosalia leveled her spear at Kirito, "Now, hand over all of your items."

Kirito hummed, "No. You made a _**very**_ stupid mistake pulling something like that. You would've just had to deal with me before, _now_ you've gotta deal with Hanna. And she's in a terrible mood right now. Be glad you're incapable of feeling pain."

Rosalia scowled and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could Hanna cut her off. With her feet. Pushing her agility stat to its limit, she crossed the distance between her and Rosalia before anyone but Kirito even noticed her move. As soon as she was close enough, she launched herself at Rosalia, planting both of her boots into the woman's face and kicked off before she could go flying. The redhead was thrown back violently, dropping her weapon in the process, and sending the the vial flying. Twisting as she landed, Hanna caught the vial, completely ignoring her cursor changing a light orange for assaulting a green player.

Rosalia stood up slowly staring at her fearfully with wide eyes. Hanna flicked the vial over get shoulder casually, and Kirito caught it so effortlessly it almost seemed like the vial was magnetically drawn to his hand. He immediately clicked the item to open its menu and deleted it.

Rosalia backed up a few steps, "W-Wait! I surrender! I'll come quietly!"

Hanna was furious that this woman had threatened her mate, and was about to ignore her pleading to beat her up some more, when Kirito's spoke up, "Tch! You act all tough, but the moment you no longer hold all the cards, you crumble as easily as ash. Leave the coward alone Hanna, she isn't worth it. Besides, as soon as they step through the Corridor, we've completed what Manu asked of us."

Hanna eyed Rosalia, "... She just threatened to kill you… I don't like it when people threaten you..…. Besides, given what she did to him, even if she can't feel pain, I'm sure Manu wouldn't mind me roughing her up."

Kirito seemed aggravated, "Oh trust me, I wouldn't mind it either, given that she threatened you too, which I _**hate**_ , but I'd rather just be rid of her so I never have to see her again."

Hanna forced herself to take a deep breath, and reign in her temper like her grandfather had taught her so long ago. Once she was reasonably sure she had control of herself, she looked at Rosalia and jerked her head to gesture behind her, "Move it, before I _**really**_ lose my temper."

Rosalia nodded rapidly, then scurried over to her guild. Kirito wasted no time and activated the Corridor Crystal. The guild seemed eager to enter, though perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they were eager to get away from her and Kirito, even if it meant going to prison.

There was a beat of silence as the Corridor closed behind them, and Hanna moved back over to his side. It was broken a moment later by a gaping Silica, "That-... That was-..."

Hanna shared a glance with Kirito. They hadn't precisely _forgotten_ Silica in their emotional states. It was more that their awareness of her was limited to absently noticing that she wasn't in immediate danger. Now that they'd dealt with Titan's Hand, they needed to explain everything to Silica. Kirito gave her what could best be described as an apologetic grimace, and she sighed. It was probably for the best if she explained. Neither of them were very good at talking to people, but while Kirito could act fantastically, when it came to honest conversations, she was better at it.

She turned to Silica and cleared her throat, "Silica…. About all of that. I understand if you're angry at us, you're not stupid so-"

That was as far as she got before Silica burst like a dam, "That was **awesome**!" Suddenly she was clutching Hanna's arm and babbling, "That was so cool Hanna-nee-chan! You were right beside me, and then you were kicking Rosalia in the _face_ , and then you just caught the vial without even glancing at it, and then-"

Hanna was baffled, but amused as she covered Silica's mouth with her hand, "Calm down there midget. You're not mad at us?"

Silica looked sheepish at the gentle command, then looked confused, "Why would I be mad at Kirito-nii and Hanna-nee?"

The two shared a glance, then Kirito unsurely answered, "Well…. because we used you as bait….."

Silica tilted her head, "So? Hanna-nee and Kirito-nii wouldn't have let anything happen to me, right?"

They both shook their heads immediately, and Hanna verbalized it, "Of course not. We told you to trust us didn't we? That's as good as a promise to keep you safe when it's coming from us."

Silica tilted her head, "Then I really don't see why I would be mad. I wasn't in danger, and you even helped me get the Pneuma Flower to revive Pina!"

Hanna was unsure, "Well, yes, but…. We used you Silica….."

Silica puffed out her cheeks, "Ya, but…. You actually wanted to help me, like you were helping that other person, right? You didn't do it just because it was convenient for you."

Kirito sounded offended at the very idea, "Of course not! Of course we wanted to help. It just happened to help Manu-san as well! We would only spare three days away from the front lines, but even if helping you and Manu-san hadn't mixed so well, we would've found a way to help. Even if we just put you in contact with someone else who could take you, we would've figured something out!"

Silica was smiling at this point, "And, you weren't just pretending to like me, right?"

Hanna, who was faintly grinning as she'd caught onto what Silica was trying to say, shook her head, "Not in the slightest. While we're both rather good at acting, you're a sweet kind girl. So we didn't need to act at all."

Silica blushed at the compliment, but smiled even wider, "Then there's no problem! Honestly, the only thing I don't get is why you didn't just tell me from the beginning. I would've been fine with it, since you'd be helping me revive Pina in the process."

Kirito still looked conflicted, and Hanna rolled her eyes, "Ignore him. It'll get through eventually. He's a self-blaming guilty type of person. You'll be trying to persuade him for hours, which is my job. I'll make sure he understands later. As for why we didn't tell you… It's rather simple. We thought you'd be scared. Neither of us wanted that. You might've turned down our help, and been unable to revive Pina. Plus, we might've been unable to help Manu without your help, unknowing or not."

Kirito flushed, then gave her a mock glare, "Really? First you steal my new imouto and now you're making fun of me. That is _literally_ adding insult to injury."

Hanna grinned and nodded. Silica just giggled and hugged Hanna's arm tighter.

* * *

Once they made it back to the inn, Kirito gave Silica an encouraging smile, "It's safe to resurrect Pina now."

Silica smiled wildly and pulled «Pina's Heart» from her inventory, then gently set it on the table in an almost loving manner. Then with equal delicacy, removed the Pneuma Flower before she looked to them for guidance. Kirito was quick to supply her with the information she was looking for, "Do you see that drop of water in the flower's center? All you have to do is drop that on Pina's feather."

Silica nodded, and carefully did exactly that. As soon as the drop hit the feather it began to glow. The light quickly expanded and took shape before bursting away from the now revived Dragon. Immediately a teary eyed Silica cried out, "Pina! You're back! I missed you so much!"

The blue feathered dragon returned a happy crooning noise. For a few minutes, Silica and Pina had a tearful reunion. Then Silica turned back to them. She seemed to slump into herself, "So….. I guess this is goodbye… Thank you so much for your help. It was fun, having older siblings."

Hanna grinned and ruffled her hair, "Pff, as if midget. You ain't getting rid of us that easily! We've gotta return to Manu and the front lines, but we ain't leaving until you're on our friend lists. You're stuck with us now. Stuck with having _annoying_ older siblings who fret and worry over you, and will message you all the goddamn time to ask how you're doing and how your day was, not to mention randomly pester you to meet up with them because they miss you."

Silica's eyes were shining happily, but she played along, "Seriously? That sounds like a complete hassle. I take all that forgiveness stuff I said earlier back. Go away."

Kirito shook his head with a grin, "Nope! There's something Hanna said to me about a month after we met, and I think it's rather appropriate. We're like vampires, once you let us in, there's no going back."

Silica rubbed her eyes, "You mean it? You won't get mad if I message you, and wanna meet up every now and then?"

Hanna gave her a mock stern look, "You better young lady, or I will be very cross with you!"

Silica nodded happily, and quickly sent them friend requests which were immediately accepted, "It's a promise then! So, I'll see you later, Kirito-nii, Hanna-nee!"

Kirito smiled and waved as he left, and Hanna laughed as she walked backwards out of the door, "Later midget!"

Silica suddenly puffed her cheeks out as a look of annoyed realization came over her face, "Don't call me midget!"

Hanna's grin almost seemed like it would split her face, "Nope! If there's one thing I've learned about having an older sibling grin experience, it's that you get to call your younger sibling all sorts of nicknames. Even ones they hate!"

Silica pouted, but it only drew laughter from the two as they departed.


	19. Occlumency and Shenanigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I've ever actually mentioned this on AO3, but they're pictures related to this fic on my deviantart. You can find it at http://yaoifan4eva.deviantart.com/gallery/56827271/Fanfiction-Story-Stuff (btw that's a username that I seriously regret letting my 12 year old self pick, but stupid deviantart only lets core members chance their usernames).
> 
> Anyway, there's also a poll about a detail in this story if anyone's interested. It won't be important for a while, so it'll be up there for quite some time. It's about the wand Kazuto will get. I went over to Pottermore and was reading the info J.K. Rowling gives on wands, but couldn't decide on the wood. There are descriptions for the type of person each wand favors, so if you decide to participate, please read them all over carefully before you make a decision. You can find it here http://www.pollmaker.com/poll926479x199B455d-38

February 24, 2024- 476 days since SAO launch:

After parting ways with Silica, she and Kirito began making their way to the teleport plaza to head back up to the 50th floor. On the way, Kirito messaged Manu to inform him of their success. Just before they reached the teleport gate, he received a reply. Reading it over, he made a startled noise.

Hanna glanced at her mate, "Everything alright?"

Kirito nodded, "Yes. I was just surprised. Apparently Manu has been waiting at the Black Iron Prison to see if we caught them. So he already knew. He says the only reason he hadn't messaged us yet was because he was speaking to the members of Titan's Hand. Said to tell you thank you though. I guess Rosalia told him you were the one that did it."

Hanna made an annoyed sound, "He makes it sound like you didn't help."

Kirito shook his head, "He thanked me too. It's simply a matter that both he and I know the biggest reason they surrendered was because they were scared of you. I probably could've gotten them to as well, but you certainly sped things up."

Hanna shrugs, "If you say so. Come on, let's get back to the inn. There's something we need to talk about, and I doubt it's a conversation you want to have in public."

Kirito suddenly wouldn't look at her, which only made her more worried, "I don't know what you mean."

Hanna narrowed her eyes in annoyance and concern. Kirito undoubtedly realized she wanted to talk about whatever had bothered him at the Hill of Memories. They'd had more than a few conversions that made Kirito uncomfortable, mostly about his terrible opinion of himself. He _had_ tried to deflect such conversations, but he'd never outright avoided talking to her.

She studied him out of the corner of her eye, then let it go for now. As she'd said, she wasn't about to bring it up in public, plus Kazuto looked like he needed to sort out his own thoughts on the matter. He couldn't very well explain what was bothering him if he didn't understand it well enough himself. She'd give him a couple days to think it over before she brought it up again.

With a huff she changed the topic, "So, I've been thinking…." Kirito made an inquisitive hum, "Well, what do you think about getting a house?"

Kirito gave her a startled look, "A house?"

She shifted awkwardly, suddenly weary that he might be against the idea, "I mean, we've been staying at inns this entire time. I'd be nice to have a place of our own. Plus it'd save money. Though if you're uncomfortable with the idea or something, then that's fine. Just forget I said anything."

Hanna was already regretting bringing it up. Kazuto may be her Soulmate, but that didn't mean he'd be ready to take every step with her the moment she suggested it. She'd just thought….. Well, he'd asked her to marry him. Honestly, having a house wouldn't be much different than staying at inns. They already shared a room, slept in the same bed even, it would just mean more space for them, but it'd be nice to have someplace consistent. A place that was _theirs_. It may not be a big difference, but the little differences _mattered_ to her. If Kirito wasn't ready for that though, she wouldn't push. No matter how much she wanted it to happen.

She was pulled from her thoughts by a huffing laugh. When she gave him a confused look he shook his head, "Just two months ago our positions were reversed. I was the one regretting opening my mouth when I asked you to marry me. Do you remember what you told me?"

Hanna nodded without hesitation, "That you were being silly. That it didn't even really qualify as a question when the answer was so obviously a yes."

Kirito nodded with a smile, "Precisely Hanna."

With her nervousness, it took a moment for what Kirito was saying to sink in, but when it did she beamed at him, "I don't know if you have anything in mind, but I was thinking the 28th floor."

Kirito gave her a surprised look, "The 28th floor? But it's a taiga! It never gets hotter than ten degrees!"

Hanna tilts her head at him, with a bemused smile, "In Celsius, sure, it's 50 degrees Fahrenheit for us Americans though, thank you very much. More importantly, you say that like you're complaining, but we both know you _love_ it there. Which is why I suggested it. I really have no climate preference, but you definitely do. So, what do you say? Wanna go house hunting on the 28th floor with me?"

Kirito smiled widely, "Only because you silly Americans are being stubborn about switching to the metric system. And I'd love to. When do you want to start looking? Sooner is better."

Hanna nodded, "Might as well start tomorrow."

* * *

February 28th, 2024- 480 days since SAO launch:

Mike entered Severus' office wearily. Earlier in class, he'd been given a detention for 'incorrect and rather dangerous' handling of powdered Asphodel root. Except Hermione assured him he'd been handling them correctly, and even if she was wrong, which Mike was beginning to believe was nearly impossible, Severus would've simply deducted points given their new relationship.

Which meant he needed to speak to him, and didn't want anyone knowing. An assumption proven correct the moment he walked into the office. Severus signaled him to be silent as he waved his wand for a few minutes, the tip of his wand periodically lighting as each spell was complete, before relaxing, "I've removed any possible listening spells on both you and the room, and secured my office completely. We can speak freely now."

Mike swallowed thickly, "You've never gone to such lengths before. Something's happened."

Severus grimaced, "Dumbledore has given me new orders pertaining to you. Though I have no more reason to believe he spelled you or my office now than before, what I'm about to reveal demands such precautions."

Mike paused, "But Dumbledore had plenty of reason to put such spells on me or my clothing before, from his perspective anyway. Shouldn't you have done something the other times we've met? If he found out you've been helping me-"

Severus cut him off impatiently, "My door is warded against such things. Normally when you walk through that door, all such spells are removed. I was merely double checking to be sure. So if we can get on to why I've called you here?" The look he gave Mike told him it was less of a question and more of a warning, so Mike nodded his assent quickly, "Good. Dumbledore has realized you've been developing your occlumency since you were reunited with your mother. He is very…. displeased with this. He's ordered me to sabotage your shields under the guise of occlumency lessons. Obviously, I won't do that, but Dumbledore will no doubt be monitoring my progress by testing your shields often. Which leaves us with only one option. I must somehow teach you one of the most advanced and risky techniques of occlumency in the same amount of time it would take me to permanently damage your shields. And I must do it right under Dumbledore's nose and directly against his orders."

Mike took that in quickly, then nodded slowly, "What exactly are you teaching me, and when do we start?"

Severus seemed mildly pleased by his lack of protest, "I'll be teaching you how to project seemingly weak shields, along with creating and storing false information behind those shields. It's risky because you have to make these weak shields your primary defence followed by the false information and memories, then hide your real shields and memories behind those. This means this technique technically allows others into your mind, and merely withholds your real memories and secrets. Even if they do not gain true information, letting others into your mind can still be dangerous. That being said, it was this technique that allowed me to hide the fact I am a spy from Voldemort, who often intruded into his followers minds. It's incredibly difficult though, so I shall need to give you quite a few detentions in order to have enough time to instruct you. As for when we start, we shall begin now."

* * *

March 4th, 2024- 485 days since SAO launch (because 2024 is a leap year):

Hanna was confused when she woke up rather abruptly. The confusion faded briefly into the faint happiness she'd been experiencing since she and Kirito had purchased this house. However, it turned back into confusion when she glanced down and to the right and saw it was two in the morning. She frowned. There was something wrong with this picture. Her frown and confusion both deepened when she realized what it was, her sleepy head wasn't in bed with her. It was especially confusing since they were opting out of labyrinth grinding tonight because the boss raid was tomorrow.

Slipping out from under the covers, she left their bedroom in search of her wayward mate. She found him in the living room, sitting in the window seat absently watching the snow fall with a faraway expression on his face. It said something about how distracted he was that he didn't immediately notice her enter the room. She searched his face reflected in the window, trying to figure out what was troubling him. She just couldn't figure it out though.

Padding over lightly, she touched his shoulder to get his attention. He jerked and whirled around, then relaxed when he saw it was her. She ran her fingers through his hair soothingly, "What's wrong?"

His lips twitched upwards for for the briefest of moments, "If I didn't know any better I'd think you could read minds. Seriously, how do you always seem to know when something's bothering me? I'm not an open book like most people."

She smiled at him, "Yes you are. You're just... written in an encryption. You've gotta know the code to read you. I just know your code. Not that I really needed it this time. You're never up at two in the morning." He chuckled lightly, and for a moment she let him, then she sighed, "What's bothering you so much?"

Kirito looked away, "I was thinking about Silica and Pina. Silica… she really loved Pina, didn't she? Even though Pina is just a small bit of programming in the Cardinal System. Then again, Pina sacrificed herself for Silica, something completely outside of her programming, so maybe she's more real than she's supposed to be…. Still, in the end, when Aincrad is defeated Pina will disappear. She's only real in Aincrad."

Hanna frowned. He hadn't told her everything yet, there was more bothering him, "So this is what you've been thinking about since the Hill of Memories. What's really the issue Kirito?"

Kirito lips twitched lightly, "Decrypting me again, huh?" He finally looked at her, though he seemed almost… pained, "Is this real? Us, I mean. Will what we have disappear when Aincrad is defeated, just like Pina?"

Hanna sighs, then sits in Kazuto's lap, and cradles his face, lightly running her thumbs over his cheekbones, "Don't be silly Kazuto, of course this is real. As crazy as Kayaba is, there was something rather important he said the day all of this started. When he gave us those mirrors and we became our real selves, he told us he was giving us proof that this was our only reality. The real world is undoubtedly important, but for now, _Aincrad_ is the only place that matters. Everything here is just as real for me as though it happened in the real world."

Kazuto looked away tears of frustration gathering in his eyes, "Even so…. You live in the U.S. and I live in Japan….. I just don't see how…."

Hanna presses a kiss to his forehead before brushing the unshed tears away, "There's no need to worry about that, ok? With the current circumstances, I have no doubt that my family moved to Japan for my medical treatment. We'll meet up when we get out of this game. I promise." Then she grinned a bit, "Actually if I were you, I'd stop worrying about non-issues and start worrying about yourself. My dad and uncles are all ridiculously overprotective, and won't like the idea of me having a boyfriend at **all**. My mom will probably stop them from doing anything purely because she'd be _ecstatic_ that I'm in love, but they'll leap at the chance to skin you alive for any number of minuscule reasons."

Kazuto looked a bit weary, but wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, "You're worth it though…."

She smiled at him, "Don't say I didn't warn you, my family can be pretty damn scary when they're being protective. Don't worry though, I'll protect you."

Kirito finally grinned lightly, then jokingly said, "My hero."

Hanna hummed lightly in agreement, "Obviously. You definitely aren't capable of looking after yourself, that's for sure. Which leaves me, the fool who fell in love with you, to look after you. Probably forever since despite your amazing learning curve, you seem incapable of learning to look after yourself."

Kirito sighed and nuzzled her neck lightly, but instead of protesting her teasing as she'd expected, he gave her an almost pleading look, "You promise?"

Hanna nodded without hesitation, then smiled, "I agreed to marry you, didn't I? I don't know about you, but I wasn't just talking about Aincrad."

His breathing hitched and he tightened his hold on her, "Really?

She nodded again, "Really."

He smiled widely, "Best thing I've heard in awhile."

Hanna laughed then grabbed his hand as she stood up and began leading him back to their room, "Good. Now come back to bed. I'm pretty sure you not being in bed is what woke me, it just felt wrong for my sleepy head to not be, well, sleeping with me."

Kirito smiles, "Sleep sounds like the second best thing I've heard in awhile."

* * *

March 5th 2024, 486 days since SAO launch:

Kirito gave Hanna a grateful smile as she handed him a health potion, which he used immediately. Less than a minute before, they'd beaten the 50th floor boss, a metallic six armed statue. It had been a difficult and highly stressful battle. Especially given that when the boss went into the red of the third of its five health bars, it launched a terrifyingly fierce and efficient assault. In response, over half the front liners panicked and teleported away without permission. To be honest, if Heathcliff hadn't managed to hold the line with the rest of the floor clearers, and if the reinforcements had been even a minute later, they'd probably all be dead.

With a sigh, he finally gathered himself and began looking over his drops. The minute he looked at the screens in front of him, he straightened with interest. Apparently in that final assault he'd gotten the killing blow. In front of him was a familiar screen reading,

"Last Attack Bonus:

Elucidator"

He tilted his head in curiosity, then quickly checked over the rest of his drops, before navigating to the item. It was a one handed straight sword, just what he preferred. He tapped on the weapon and began looking it's stats over. It was impressive that was for sure, and it was heavy, the heaviest sword he'd owned to date. Materializing the weapon his eyes widened. It. Was. _**Perfect**_. Exactly as long as he preferred, heavy, and best of all, almost entirely pitch black, with few exceptions, such as the blades edge. It was truly a beauty.

As he continued to stare wide eyed at the breathtaking blade, he absently murmured to Hanna, "I think I've found the second love of my life…"

Hanna made an absent inquisitive hum before turning her attention to him. She quickly took him, the blade, and his awe in, then burst out laughing. She calmed after a minute and gave him a teasing look, "Should I be worried? You look like you're not far from divorcing me to run off and elope with that thing."

Kirito grinned at her, "No. I wouldn't leave you, especially not for a sword." He turned his attention back to Elucidator, "It's definitely the second most beautiful thing I've ever seen though." He smiled at his wife, "Right behind you of course."

She smiled at him and bumped his shoulder with her own, "Flatterer. If you're so in love with that thing, stop staring at it and just equip it ready."

Kirito nodded firmly, and quickly did just that. Glancing over his shoulder as his new blade took the spot of his old, he whispered, "I'm never replacing you, my dear Elucidator. I don't care if you become obsolete, I'll faithfully carry you to the end of this game."

Hanna laughed again, shaking her head at her mates antics.

* * *

March 19th, 2024- 500 days since SAO launch:

Mike was having trouble sleeping. His head and scar had been feeling like they were getting stabbed over and over again since he started making progress with Severus.

He'd asked his Severus about it, and it had worried him. Dumbledore had informed Severus that he believed Mike had some sort of connection to Voldemort, but he hadn't given the man details. The only reason the other man could come up with for the pain was that it had something to do with that connection. Since he'd already been developing his shields before Voldemort came back, he'd been protected up until now, but by applying the new occlumency technique to fool Dumbledore, he was opening himself up to Voldemort.

They both had a suspicion that along with wanting to be able to read Mike's mind himself, Dumbledore wanted to weaken Mike's barriers because of that connection.

Mike sighed as he took one of the pain relief potions Severus had given him when he realized how difficult it was for Mike to sleep. Laying down, he settled himself in for the night. He was so tired, he fell asleep almost the second the potion took effect.

He was low to the floor, sliding along on his belly. The stone floor was almost unbearably cold against his stomach and he wanted to go home, but he had a mission he needed to complete. Down the corridor a door came into view. There was a man sitting beside it, sound asleep, and only partially viable. His fangs ached to bite the man, but he had orders. The man seemed familiar, it tugged at something in his memory.

Before he had a chance to figure out what was familiar about the man, he began to wake up. He tensed in preparation to strike, then quickly lashed out at the man, biting him repeatedly.

Mike woke with a gasp. His scar felt like it was on fire, and his head was poundin _g. Art_ (1)hur. The man was Arthur Weasley. Rolling out of bed, he quickly pulled his shoes on and grabbed his invisibility cloak and the Marauders map before rushing out of his dorm.

He paused halfway down the stairs to the common room. Who should he go to? Severus and Dumbledore are probably the only ones who'd believe him. The problem was, he didn't want to go to Dumbledore, but the man would get suspicious if he went to Severus instead. He supposed he could pose his reasoning to Dumbledore for going to Severus as worry that something was terribly wrong with his shields. On the other hand, Mr Weasley probably didn't have much time, and for all the issues he had with Ron, he was still rather fond of most of the other Weasley's, and Dumbledore was closer.

Swallowing thickly as nervousness washed over him, he quickly checked the map. He was relieved to find Severus was still awake, so he quickly sent him a Patronus message. That done, he gathered his nerves, put the cloak on, and headed to Dumbledore's office. He didn't like the idea of heading in there alone, but at least back up was on the way.

* * *

An hour later the rest of the Weasleys except Bill and Charlie, Professor McGonagall, Severus, and Mike were gathered in Dumbledore's office waiting for him to finish with his floo call to the hospital.

Dumbledore pulled his head out of the fireplace with a tired sigh, "Well, the healers at Saint Mungo's believe he should be fine. Apparently, it was touch and go for awhile there, but he made it through the worst."

Mrs Weasley let out a sob of relief and clutched Ginny, who was sitting in her lap with her face buried in her mother's neck crying, tighter to her.

Severus sneered at them, sarcastically drawling, "How wonderful."

Mike could see the relief in his eyes though. He may never have gotten along with Arthur, but he was a good man and a good father, both things Severus could respect, especially the latter given his own abusive father. As such, despite their differences, he didn't wish harm on the man.

Ron eyed Mike in distrust, "How'd Mike even know dad was in trouble anyway?"

Molly Weasley turned a sharp look on him quickly wiping her eyes, "Ronald Weasley, you will stop that this instant! That is no way to talk to the person who just saved your father's life! I won't have you treating him like he's in league with You-Know-Who just because you two had a falling out. We talked about your behavior towards Mike last year, and I'd thought being grounded for the summer might have set you straight, but perhaps you need to be grounded this summer as well."

Dumbledore lifted his hands in a placating manner, "Now Molly, I'm sure he didn't mean it like that. It's a fair question, but I have the answer. I've suspected for a while that Mike may have a connection to Voldemort, but I've never had proof until tonight. Voldemort must have been observing or controlling his familiar in some manner, so through his connection to Voldemort, Mike saw what the snake was doing."

Everyone silently took that in for a few minutes, then Ron, still obviously distrustful, asked another question, "How come he's only just getting stuff from You-Know-Who? He's been back for almost nine months. Why's he only getting stuff now?"

Dumbledore sighed tiredly, even though it was his fault, not that the majority of the office's current occupants knew that, "From my understanding, young Mike started learning occlumency from his… mother and blood adopted family last year, correct? It's what you told Severus when I suggested occlumency lessons to protect you from this connection anyway."

Mike silently fumed at Dumbledore. How dare he pretend he was trying to help him? Thankfully he managed to keep a straight face, though he never would've imagined it could be so two years ago, Severus' presence helped him keep a facade of calm, "That's correct. My family has taught me many things since I reunited with my mother last year. I'm no where near mastering any of it of course, but they've at least begun the process of teaching me to defend myself."

He **really** wanted to verbalize the 'unlike some people' hanging in the air, but openly antagonizing Dumbledore wouldn't be wise. Dumbledore and Severus picked up on it anyway, but leaving it unsaid in a way that no one else picked up on it made it so Dumbledore couldn't use such open hostility to his advantage.

Dumbledore peered over the tops of his glasses at him with a faint disapproving frown, still attempting to pull the grandfatherly mentor card, then shook his head, "Anyhow, Voldemort is a master of the mind arts, whereas Mike is only a beginner. It's amazing he managed to keep his shields up for as long as he did."

Mike barely fought back the urge to react to that. He would admit he didn't have as much experience as Voldemort, but what he **did** have was a telepathic connection to his sister, who had been studying occlumency for the majority of her life. Not to mention, between his mother, grandparents, uncle Vergil, and Severus, he had some of the best magical tutors in the world, and they all had things to contribute to his occlumency lessons. His grandparents had sheer experience due to their age, and his grandfather was especially helpful with his lessons on controlling oneself that he insisted on because of the natural rage devils need to control.

His mother and Severus had studied many thing together over the years, the mind arts and potions being rather high on the list, making them some of the best in those fields. Vergil, despite being mentally unstable since his mates death, was astonishingly helpful. Then again, he'd been temporarily driven mad because of what happened to his mate before his grandparents managed to coax him back. Perhaps it was actually his personal experience with mental health that gave him such insight into the mind.

Mike shook his head, unable to help correcting Dumbledore, especially since the man was likely only complimenting him in an attempt to reconnect with him and cover his tracks. Mike was embarrassed to know that two years ago, such a compliment from Dumbledore would've had him preening, and he wouldn't have noticed how dishonest he was being either, "It's not amazing or astonishing at all. My family just have a _very_ good understanding of magic, and they are excellent teachers." He turned his attention to the twins momentarily. They had been as silent and solemn as a graveyard since they heard of their father, "Mind you, when your teachers are the best demon hunters in the world, getting knocked on your ass every thirty seconds is ridiculously common in practical defence lessons."

He was happy that it drew small smiles from them, which is what he'd been aiming for. They weren't nearly as large as the mischievous grins the two were rather known for, but they were sincere, and he was glad he managed to lighten his friends' moods even a little.

What he wasn't expecting, was the small laugh from Ginny. With the way she had always seemed to hero worship him, he hadn't thought she'd take the idea of him getting his ass beat rather soundly well, but apparently he was wrong. She grinned at him, "Is that how you got so good? I mean, I'll admit I've always thought highly of you, but even I was surprised with the ease you took on both Hodhedge and Smith."

Mike huffed, "My uncle Vergil is one of my primary instructors in physical combat, and he's stupidly fast. Fastest person I've ever met actually, and I've met a _lot_ of people, even professional duelists. Two things you learn **very** quickly when sparring with uncle Vergil? How to dodge like it's raining Unforgivables, and how to be fast."

That draws more giggling from Ginny, snickering from the twins, and a small amused grin from Mrs Weasley. Mike couldn't help the pleased grin that surfaced as most of the Weasley's relaxed. They were drawn from their conversation by Dumbledore clearing his throat, "As amusing as young Mike's tales of his summer are, I'm sure you and the children would like to visit Arthur. The hospital is allowing it despite how early in the morning it is. The healers believe Arthur should wake soon, so you should be off if you wish to be there when he does. You are welcome to use my fireplace to floo there of course. Mike, you should be heading off to bed."

Mrs Weasley nodded as she gently set Ginny on her feet before standing, Mike followed suit. He turned to her and slightly opened his arms in question. Mrs Weasley gave him a watery smile and pulled him into a hug, "Since when have I ever turned down a hug Mike, especially from my kids. You may not be related to us by blood, and you may have your own family, but you'll always be family to me."

Mike tightened his hold slightly, but was careful not to hurt her, "Thanks Mrs Weasley. Despite everything between me and Ron now,and my blood adopted family, I still think of the Weasley's as family too." He pulled away and glanced at Professor McGonagall briefly, before returning his gaze to Mrs Weasley, "Actually, I was wondering if I could visit Mr Weasley myself tomorrow. As long as Professor McGonagall is alright with it of course, seeing as it's a person's head of house that needs to approve leaving school grounds. I wouldn't want to intrude tonight, and the hospital is probably only allowing blood relatives anyway, but if it's alright with you…H

He trailed off and Mrs Weasley nodded, "As long as Professor McGonagall is fine with it, I don't have any problem with it. I'm sure Arthur would be glad to see you."

McGonagall nodded as well, "I don't see why not."

Mike nodded, "Thank you Professor."

Dumbledore broke into the conversation again, "Well, if that's all young Mike should be heading off to his dorm, and the rest of you should head over to the hospital. Severus, I need to speak to Minerva, so if you could please escort Mike back to his dorm?"

It was less of a question and more of an order, so Severus made his obligatory snide remarks but quickly led him out of the office. He led him down a route Mike was unfamiliar with, but he figured Severus had a reason so he waited patiently. Sure enough a few minutes later they paused in a seemingly unremarkable hallway, and Severus quickly waved his wand a few times. Mike glanced around and immediately he was certain he knew why Severus led him this way, there was literally _nothing_ in this hallway. No portraits, no suits of ar, no windows or mirrors, and no ghosts as far as he could tell.

Severus finished with his spells in less than a minute and quickly turned to him, "Normally I'd take you to my office if we were having a private discussion, but there isn't enough time for that at the moment. Are you alright? Did Dumbledore try anything before I got there?"

Mike shook his head, "No. He seemed concerned for Mr Weasley, but more then that, he seemed pleased. At this point, I'm certain it's safe to say you were right as to the connection being part of the reason he wanted my shields ruined."

Severus relaxed slightly, then nodded, "I suppose it makes sense. The Weasley's don't know what sort of man he really is, and because of that are some of his most loyal supporters. It would be bad for his image if he let one of them die. Most people see the Weasleys as his faithful dogs at his beck and call, his second favorites only after the Potters, since most still see you as his son."

Mike pursed his lips in anger, and Severus sighed, "Incorrectly, I know, but nonetheless how the public still see you. The point is that everyone knows the Weasley's are nearly his favorites. If he lets one of them die, others will begin questioning if he can really protect them."

Severus shook his head, "Plus, he was likely pleased you went to him with this. He probably feels like he's finally getting some of his control over you back."

Mike scowled, "As if! I'll never give into that bastard!" When Severus raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak, Mike deflated and looked away while cutting across him, "I know, I know. It was stupid to go to him on my own, but Mr Weasley didn't have much time, and you were so far away, but even if I did go to you Dumbledore-"

Severus cut across him, "Enough. Look at me." He waited til Mike was doing exactly that, "You did the right thing. As you said, Arthur didn't have much time. Contacting me before going to Dumbledore was the best option. The only anger I'm experiencing right now is not directed at you. It's at the situation, the Minister, Umbridge, Voldemort, and Dumbledore. You did exactly as you should've. Do you understand?"

Mike nodded slowly, and Severus gave his own firm nod in return, "Good." He checked the time with a spell before changing the subject, "Enough of that though, given how long Dumbledore and Minerva's meetings usually last, we're almost out of time. How are your shields? Are they holding? What about your headache, worse or better?"

Mike shook his head, "My head feels fine for now my shields are alright too. Honestly, I don't think he meant for me to see that. The… visions of the Department of Mysteries have always had a feeling of purpose to them. This didn't, it was more a feeling of… anticipation."

Severus thought that over for a moment with narrowed eyes, then nodded slowly, "Given that he definitely knows of the connection between you, and what you've just told me. It seems like tonight was the first true 'vision' you've gotten. It seems like he purposely sent you the previous dreams."

Mike gave him a confused look, "Why though?"

Severus sighed, "Isn't it obvious? He's likely setting up a trap. If not, then at the very least the constant 'visions' will give you headaches, prevent you from sleeping, and wear you down in general."

Mike frowned in thought, before slowly beginning, "Perhaps not." Severus raised an eyebrow, about to make a snide remark, so Mike quickly elaborated, "I mean I think this might not be the first real vision I've gotten from him. I only started learning occlumency after the tournament started, before that, before the school year even began, I was having strange dreams. Dreams of an old house on a hill, of an old man dying, of Peter Pettigrew, and a man I now know to be Barty Crouch Jr. I thought they were just strange dreams though, so I brushed them off, but they gave me headaches too, and made my scar hurt, not to mention they feel similar to tonight's vision. More… real, I suppose."

Severus took a slow calming breath, "And you've never mentioned this before, _**why?**_ "

Mike raised an eyebrow, "I just said didn't I? I thought they were strange dreams and brushed them off. By the time I started learning occlumency and knew better I'd forgotten about them."

Severus sighed, "Very well. From what you said, the contents are unimportant at this point anyway, but the fact they occurred in the first place, can still occur, would've been helpful. I trust you'll inform me of any future visions or problems with your occlumency?" Mike nodded, so he began removing his privacy spells, "Good, then all that's left for now, is for you to go back to your dorm while I call your mother."

Mike nodded, "Alright. Goodnight Severus."

Severus bid him goodnight, removed the spells he cast, then quickly strode off. Undoubtedly to floo call his family and tell them what had happened. As nice of a man as he was, his family would be far less interested in him, and far more interested the confirmation of in Mike's connection to Voldemort.

* * *

(2)May 19th, 2024- 561 days since SAO launch:

Hanna smiled when she felt Kirito shift with a sleepy sigh, repositioning his head in her lap and briefly nuzzling her hand that was carding through his hair. He wasn't quite asleep yet, but she knew he would be soon.

That morning she'd decided that while neither of them was _too_ stressed, it had been to long since they'd just taken a day for themselves and relaxed. As soon as she declared that they were taking the day off, Kirito had suggested a picnic, and she'd happily agreed. Partly because it was a good idea, but mostly because the only picnic they'd been on together had ended up kinda like a date but not really since they were both still been firmly thinking the other wasn't interested. As nice as that picnic had been, she kinda wanted to go on an actual date.

She'd let him lead her to the location he'd already picked out in his head like last time. This time it was a under a tree on a slight hill on the outskirts of a little town on the 59th floor called Danac. They'd sat in the shade and ate their brunch over an hour ago. Now they were simply enjoying the nice day. They'd been just chatting about everything and nothing, but Kirito had started to doze off in her lap, so she'd pulled out a book to read. It was really just flavor text for the game, just a book explaining some of the lore, but it was interesting, and furthermore it was nice to do something as normal as reading a book while lounging in the shade.

She was pulled from her reading by the sound of something approaching. Tilting her head she immediately decided it was likely a non-hostile player, given that it was footsteps and that the player wasn't even trying to be silent. A moment later she slightly adjusted her deduction as Asuna came around the tree. Asuna could be remarkably hostile if irritated.

She stared them down for a moment with a scowl before angrily demanding, "Just what, exactly, are you two doing?"

Hanna raised an eyebrow, "What does it look like we're doing? We're relaxing."

Asuna put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips, "Everyone else is working hard to clear the dungeon, and _you're_ just **relaxing**?" Her eyebrow began twitching, "Kirito is even _**napping**_!"

Hanna huffed, "Stress is bad for your health, y'know. It's good to relax every now and then."

Kirito hummed, "Besides, it's Aincrad's nicest season, and today is it's best weather setting. Going to the dungeon on a day like this is a waste."

Now Asuna seemed torn between anger and confusion, "Don't you get it? Every day we spend here is one we've lost in the real world."

Hanna chose that moment to rejoin the conversation, "That's where you're wrong Asuna. Every day we spend here isn't a day lost in the real world, it's a day gained. A day of friends and experiences we'd likely never get to have in the real world. We'll make it back, at the rate we're going, we'll likely reach the 100th floor around June next year. We can't go any faster. The front liners are pretty much working as efficiently as you're going to get a group that size, so there's not really anywhere to shave time off of. Kirito and I aren't going to speed the process up in any noticeable way. Besides, you seem to be forgetting that Kirito and I usually do most of our grinding and labyrinth exploration at night. With how chaotic our sleeping schedules are from having to be up during the day for most of our errands, the two of us lazing the day away and napping doesn't necessarily mean we aren't doing any grinding today." She pauses briefly before smiling lightly, "Besides, Kirito's right, it's far too nice of a day to waste in some dark dungeon."

Kirito hummed in agreement, and a moment later a nice breeze started, "See? The wind and the sunlight feel good."

Asuna tilted her head, "Do they? There's nothing special about this weather."

Kirito let out a tired sigh, though Hanna didn't know if it was from trying to explain the concept of relaxing to a workaholic or simply because he was already dozing off again, knowing Kirito it was more likely the latter, "If you'd lie down for a bit, you'd understand."

It turned out to be simply sleepiness, seeing as he fell asleep seconds after finishing his sentence. Asuna turned and squinted as sunlight hit her face, then raised her hand to block the light. For a moment she just stared up at the sunlight streaming through the leaves.

Hanna watched her out of the corner of her eye. She didn't try to entice Asuna into relaxing, as she'd likely just take it as a reminder that she needed to get back to work. A moment later Asuna's eyelids dropped halfway, and Hanna had to wonder when the last time she'd let herself relax was, or even if she allowed herself enough sleep. Asuna seemed to have forgotten she was there and awake, as she seemed to let some of her barriers down, it didn't reveal anything surprising, just an overworked stressed teenager who seemed exhausted. The two of them had never really gotten along, but she couldn't help but frown. Asuna really needed to take better care of herself.

Asuna slowly sat down on the grass a few feet away from them, and Hanna nearly laughed. She looked so stiff and awkward, it really made Hanna wonder if she even knew _how_ to relax. For a few minutes they just sat there. Hanna silently observing Asuna as she absently continued to card her fingers through Kirito's hair, and Asuna awkwardly attempting to relax and enjoy the weather, seemingly unaware of her.

After a few minutes the breeze came back, and Asuna's eyes slipped close. A few seconds later she finally relaxed, and leaned back until she was laying down, a small content smile tugging at the edges of her lips. Hanna finally turned back to her own book with a small grin when she noticed that Asuna had drifted off. Apparently Kirito's sleep Skill had an AOE attribute.

* * *

Hanna paused in her petting as Kirito began to stir, lowly murmuring, "Finally decided to wake up?"

Kirito sighed happily, "Missed you too much to sleep any longer, the dream you pales in comparison to the real thing." She laughed lightly, and he grinned contentedly. After a moment though, he cracked an eye open and gave her a confused look, "Why are we whispering?"

Hanna put a finger to her lips and glanced at Asuna with a grin, "It seems no one is immune to the magic of your sleep Skill. Not even workaholics. Then again, perhaps it's because she's so overworked that she was vulnerable to your weird ability to make anyone sleepy."

Kirito gave her a confused look, then turned to look. He was understandably startled to find someone as uptight as Asuna dozing in the grass, "Why's she sleeping?"

Hanna chuckled, "You're the one who pretty much invited her too."

Kirito glanced at her, "Well ya, but I didn't actually expect her to do it. I thought she'd just get all huffy and storm off like she usually does when she's annoyed with us."

Hanna turned her gaze back to the sleeping Asuna, "You wouldn't find it that surprising if you'd seen the look on her face. I think she forgot I was here, because she pretty much dropped all her barriers after you feel asleep. She looked so _exhausted_. I don't think she even allows herself to get a decent night's sleep. It was going to catch up to her at some point, and you made dozing in the grass sound rather enticing."

Kirito pouted, "Well ya ok, I'm all for Asuna letting herself relax for a bit, but did she have to do it _here_? We're in the open. We may be inside the town's safe zone, but since she's asleep she's still vulnerable to PKing. Which means we can't just leave her her."

Hanna gave him a confused look, "It's not like keeping an eye on Asuna is a difficult task. No one will try anything while we're around. All we have to do is continue to enjoy our day off here."

Kirito glanced away, "Well, ya, but…."

She considered him for a moment, then grinned lightly, "You're hungry aren't you? That's the only reason you're complaining, because your stomach is a black hole."

His response was more of a whine then normal speech. Coming from anyone else I'd be annoying, but from Kirito it just seemed adorable. She idly wondered if it was because he was her mate, or if she genuinely found it cute, "I'm starving! _Haaaannnnaaa_ heeelp…"

She laughed as she pulled the picnic basket back out of their inventory, "Well then, I suppose it's a good thing I thought to bring extra food, isn't it?"

Kirito's eyes lit up, "You are an angel! A savior sent from above!"

She just laughed and shook her head at her mates antics, then handed over the food he so desired. She glanced over at Asuna again, she had a feeling they were going to be here for a while.

* * *

Hanna sighed as Kirito started fidgeting again. They'd been here watching over Asuna for hours now, and the sun was beginning to go down. This, of course meant Kirito was hungry again, hence why he kept fidgeting. Honestly, she couldn't blame him, she was starting to get hungry as well. She was also starting to get annoyed at this point. Don't get her wrong, she was all for Asuna relaxing and letting herself get some sleep, but at this point they'd been here for over 7 hours, five of which had been keeping an eye on Asuna.

She glanced down and to the right at her clock. She'd wait 15 more minutes, if Asuna wasn't up by then, she'd go pick up something to eat while Kirito continued watching Asuna. Danac was small, but it had a couple shops, surely one of them sold something they could snack on while they waited.

Eleven minutes later, Asuna sneezed then finally began to stir, much to Kirito's obvious relief. Asuna slowly sat up and looked around. Hanna's lips twitched when she realized there was a piece of grass stuck to the side of her face, there was a bit of drool at the corner of her mouth, and her hair had gotten a bit messy. It was kinda funny to see someone as strict as Asuna looking like that.

Finally she turned to them and stared at Kirito for a moment, still looking half asleep. After a moment she seemed to finally register what, or rather who, she was looking at, as she jerked and her eyes went wide, "What…"

Kirito smiled lightly, "Morning, well evening I suppose, but anyway. Sleep well?"

Rather than answer, Asuna quickly climbed to her feet, grabbed her sword, and began to draw it with an expression that was a mix of embarrassment and anger.

Kirito made a strange choking noise of shock, then quickly dropped down off the short stone wall they'd moved over to and crouched behind it. Hanna, who had been facing Asuna from her spot on the wall with her legs dangling off, shifted forwards and rested her hand on the hilt of her falcata.

She may have been all for Asuna relaxing and keeping an eye on her, but all bets were off if the bitch was going to attack her mate. Asuna didn't even see her grab her own weapon though, given that she had her eyes screwed shut in embarrassment. She seemed to get a hold of herself a moment later though, as she forced a breath out and pushed her barely drawn weapon back into its sheath.

She was shaking and flushed with as though she was mortified as she murmured almost to low to hear, "One meal…" Kirito let out a quiet confused 'huh', and Asuna quickly stopped her shaking, let go of her weapon, and straightened as she looked off to the side and raised her voice to slightly above a normal volume, "One meal! I'll buy you one meal of any kind. Then we'll be even, okay?"

Hanna sighed as she released her own weapon. The movement seemed to finally remind Asuna that she was there and she flushed again, but thankfully she didn't flip out again. Hanna was beginning to think Asuna was bipolar.

* * *

Half an hour later the three of them were all sitting in a nice restaurant two floors down in a town called Martin. There was something of an awkward atmosphere at the table, given that Asuna was just sitting there scowling with her hands linked together in front of her face, and everyone was staring and whispering, having recognized Asuna. Kirito, not liking all the attention their table was getting, was frowning in annoyance with his chin resting in his hand. It was strange to see Kirito so unhappy when they were about to eat, but she knew he hated attention. She was used to both Asuna and having people stare at her, it had been a constant after she started her magical schooling and everyone found out who and what she was, so she wasn't really put off by either of those things. Kirito being so bothered was starting to make her annoyed at everyone else though.

Asuna dropped her hands to the table, "Well, anyway… Thanks for today." Kirito made a confused sound, so Asuna elaborated, "For watching over me."

Kirito sounded unsure, "Ah, no problem…."

Asuna lowered her eyes to stare at her hands, "The towns are safe areas, so no one can attack or player-kill you. But it's different when your asleep."

Kirito nodded, "Yeah. Sleep-PKs, dirty tricks that use the duel system. Normally, duels are just tests of strength. But during a duel, HP can go down, even in a safe zone."

Asuna continued where Kirito left off, "So you can challenge a sleeping person, using their own finger to press the ok button. Then you just keep attacking. It's happened before. So, well… Thank you." Then she glanced at Hanna, "Both of you."

Kirito sat up, slightly startled by Asuna thanking them again, "W-Well… Uh… Y-Your welcome."

A brief awkward silence settled over them again, but it only lasted a few seconds before it was broken by a loud horrified scream coming from nearby. They all shot up from their seats, and quickly left to find out what was going on.

They quickly reached a plaza with a large crowd gathered in front of a building. Following their horrified gazes, they looked up to see a man hanging from a balcony and stabbed through the chest.

As they ran over Kirito shouted to the man, "Hurry and pull it out!"

The man turned his terrified gaze to them briefly, then began trying to pull on the sword. After a moment Asuna turned towards the door, saying over her shoulder, "You stay down here and catch him."

Kirito voiced a confirmation, before moving towards the man quickly, Hanna followed as she began pulling a health potion out of their inventory. Before they reached the man though, he shattered into polygons, the noose swinging loosely, and the sword falling to the ground.

The two of them stopped, and Hanna slowly closed her menu as Kirito started in disbelief. She could practically hear his thoughts racing as he tried to figure out what the hell just happened, so she waited for him to figure out the next course of action.

She barely had to wait five seconds before he stated scanning the crowd, "Everyone! Look for the 'Duel Winner' notification!"

Hanna narrowed her eyes even as she began to look around. It was the most logical assumption, but given the manner in which the man had been attacked, it seemed like more was going on here.

A moment later Asuna called out to them from the balcony, "There's no one inside."

Hanna and Kirito had moved inside to speak with Asuna privately. Asuna was leaning against the wall next to the balcony with her arms crossed, Kirito was standing in front of the door, and Hanna was in the doorway to the balcony, attention split between watching everyone below, hoping to spot something that could help them figure out what was going on, and keeping an eye on Kirito and Asuna. The former because her mate was definitely and understandably disturbed by what they'd witnessed a few minutes prior, and the latter because Asuna's bipolar tendencies tended to lead to aggressive behavior.

Kirito, who had been examining the admittedly strange sword, lifted it up, "Just what is this?"

Asuna, who had been staring off to the side where the rope was tied off, turned her head so she was facing forwards, "The obvious conclusion is that the challenger impaled the victim with that spear, put a noose around his neck, and pushed him off the balcony. Wouldn't you say?"

Kirito pursed his lips, "But no one had the Winner message."

Asuna uncrossed her arms as she turned her head fully towards Kirito, vaguely gesturing with her hands, "That's impossible. The only way to hurt someone in a safe area is via duel." They were quite for a moment, the crowds shocked and frightened murmuring the only thing breaking the silence.

Asuna glanced towards the balcony then crossed her again, "Either way, we can't ignore this." Kirito quickly agreed, and she continued, "If someone's found a way to PK within safe areas, it will be dangerous inside towns as well as outside." Again Kirito agreed without adding anything, which felt strange since he almost always had something to add, but Asuna was summing up the situation rather nicely, "We'll have to leave the front lines for now, but we have no choice."

She quickly moved away from the wall and walled over to Kirito, extending her hand to him, "I'll need you to help me until we solve this. Just so we're completely clear, there went be any time for napping."

Kirito slowly lifted his hand to shake Asuna's, "You're the one who was napping."

Asuna made a startled noise and squeezed his hand in a manner that would be incredibly painful in real life, but in the game where pain is non-existent, was likely just _very_ uncomfortable. That said, she didn't appreciate Asuna messing with her mate, "Oi!" Asuna turned to her, startled but still attempting to crush Kirito's hand. She'd obviously forgotten about her. Again. Hanna frowned at her, "If we're going to be working together, I'd suggest you get a grip on those bipolar tendencies of yours."

Asuna scowled fiercely, "I'm not bipolar!"

Hanna narrowed her eyes, "You almost pulled your sword on Kirito earlier, and now you look like your trying to crush his hand. You'd better knock it off, or I'm gonna drag you over here by your fucking hair and the two of us will do a little experiment on _**exactly**_ unpleasant it is to be hung from a noose when you can't feel pain and don't need air. I imagine even with those factors it's still a terrible experience."

It wasn't the best threat, but when you lived in the kind of world they did at the moment, there wasn't much you could say to a person and have it mean anything. No, she didn't often have a reason to threaten anybody, but what she had learned was that in a place like Aincrad, tone of voice and expression got the point across far more than words, though they certainly helped. It was quite easy to pull such a tone and look when someone kept abusing her mate.

Asuna wasn't one to be rattled easily, but it definitely worked, seeing as she quickly let go of Kirito's hand and raised her own in surrender with a nervous expression, "I-I understand."

Hanna stared her down for a moment longer before turning back towards the balcony, "Good. We should head back down there and figure out if anyone saw anything, preferably now. Before people start leaving." She gave Asuna a pointed look, "So if your quite done?"

Asuna nodded quickly, "R-Right. Well. Let's go then."

Kirito quickly moved out of the way so she could open the door and head out. He waited there briefly for her to make her way over to him, staring at where Asuna had disappeared, then when she drew even with him he turned his gaze to her, "I think you might've broke her."

Hanna just shrugs, "Not my problem. She shouldn't have been behaving in such a hostile manner."

Kirito rolled his wrist, which he'd been rubbing since he retrieved it from Asuna's death grip, "It's not like it hurt."

Hanna huffs in annoyance, "It's the principle of the matter."

Kirito shakes his head at her, and she pouts. She knew that had shake. She did it all the time. It was that 'you and your antics' head shake she did when Kirito was being silly, "Fine, be that way. Next time I'll just let her squish your hand."

He raises his hands in surrender, "O-Oi, there's no need for such drastic measures."

She can't help grinning in amusement at that. So dragging Asuna to a balcony to hang her from a noose wasn't a drastic measure, but letting her squish Kirito's hand was? She probably shouldn't do it, seeing as she just got onto Kirito for it, but she can't help shaking her head at him, which of course makes him pout.

Hanna just grins at him for a moment, before sighing and becoming serious as she gestures towards the still open door, "Come on. We've got a murder to deal with."

* * *

**Omake- You can all blame KyoudaiDoushi over on ff.net for this. I told them (he? she? I actually don't know) about the idea for this and they encouraged my insanity:**

James rushed into his house both eagerly and wearily. He'd been on a mission for Dumbledore the past six days, and two days ago Sirius contacted him on their communication mirrors to inform him that Lily had gone into labor. Now he couldn't wait to see his heir. Of course, since Sirius was there he'd have to see the _other_ brat too, and pretend to care about it. Sirius might get suspicious otherwise, but as soon as he was gone he would no longer have to pretend. Seeing his heir would be worth it though.

Opening the door he came face to face with Sirius' wand, he rolled his eyes, "Move it Padfoot. I want to see the kids. Honestly, I don't know why you bother, with the Fidelius in place no one will be able to just walk in the door unless they belong."

Sirius narrowed his eyes, "Unless they forced Peter to tell then the location. So you'd better tell me something only James would know right now or I'll blow your head off."

James gave Sirius an irritated look, “Hell of a way to greet your best friend in his own house. If it'll make you feel better, I happen to know you used to have a crush on Madame-”

 

Sirius flushed in embarrassment and quickly put his wand away, “Is it really necessary to bring that up?”

 

James scowled, “It is when you're being a prat and won't let me see my wife and kids.”

  
Sirius huffed, “I was only trying to ensure their safety. There's no need to be rude. I'd see the kids and leave Lily be for the tune being. Her labour was a difficult one, and there were some complications. The healer Albus got said she'll be ok, but she'll need lot of rest. Actually, she hasn't even been awake long enough or aware enough when she is to name them yet.”

James nodded slowly, "Alright. I'm gonna go see the kids."

Sirius nodded with a smile, "Ya, you do that. Oh, I don't know if anyone told you, you have a boy and a girl. They're adorable. Congratulations by the way."

James nodded then headed upstairs. Reaching the nursery, he studied the kids. They were awake, and weirdly silent. He'd been told that twins tended to be quiet for awhile after being born as their bond settled, but he hadn't thought it'd apply to them since they weren't true twins. Plus, he'd been sceptical, he'd met Molly's twins, and they were little terrors. He couldn't imagine that they were ever quiet. If the babies in front of him were any indication though, they must've been.

He scrutinized the two children trying to figure out which was his, a thoughtful hum leaving him.

Neither of them had much hair, but other than the different colored clothes, it was the only difference between the two. One of the babies had purely black hair, whereas the other had strange dual red and black hair. He brushed his fingers over the dual colored hair and narrowed his eyes as he mentally corrected himself. It was three colors, not two. It was barely noticeable, but there were two tufts of silver in the child's hair.

Suspicion set in as he eyed the child's strange tri-colored hair, and James eyed the baby in thought. Another hum left his mouth as his gaze flickered between the two. After a few minutes of this, he nodded firmly and picked up the black haired baby, holding it in front of him triumphantly, "This one's mine!"

James jumped slightly, nearly dropping his child when Dumbledore spoke up behind him, he'd been so intent on the children that he hadn't even heard the other come in, "Why exactly do you assume it's that one?"

James gave him an incredulous look, "Isn't it obvious? Because they other one has weird hair!"

Albus pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed in exasperation, "James... There are things called paternity spells, you know..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1): In canon, Arthur got attacked earlier in Harry's 5th school year, but due to the changes I've made, I decided to reorder some events.
> 
> (2): In the anime, Asuna finds Kirito sleeping under the tree on the 11th, but in the novel, this occurs on the 22nd. Which by the way, is minor detail that I don't know why they changed when they were animating it, but that being said, like Elucidator, with the floors it took place on, it doesn't make since for these events to have occurred this early in the series. So I just reordered the events.


	20. Golden Apple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why does everyone call Guilty Thorn, the sword Kains got stabbed with, a spear? I checked the light novel version, and they describe it as a 'short black spear' but don't actually show it anywhere. In the anime it's clearly a sword. When I was watching the episodes of this ark, that always drove me nuts. What's it's supposed to be, a spear or a sword? Make up your freaking minds please. It's not like the people animating it haven't changed things before, but if you're going to change it, why did you continue to have the characters call it a spear! It's minor and stupid to get worked up over, I know, but it bothers me, ok?

****May 19th, 2024- 561 days since SAO launch:

Heading out of the building, Hanna and Kirito find Asuna waiting for them. After sharing a quick glance Kirito steps forward and calls out to the murmuring crowd, "May I have your attention for a moment?" He waits a couple seconds for the talk to die down before continuing, "Did anyone see the whole thing? If you did, please speak up."

The crowd began to mutter amongst themselves. After a moment, a timid looking young woman began moving towards them, immediately silencing the crowd. Asuna gave her a sympathetic look, and spoke gently, "I'm sorry. I know you've just had a frightening experience, but I'm from the KOB and I'd like to get to the bottom of this to ensure players are still safe inside towns." The woman nodded slowly and Asuna continued, "What's your name?"

Understandably the woman sounded terrified when she answered, "My name is Yoruko…"

Kirito is quick to ask the next question, "Were you the one who screamed?"

Yoruko nods slowly again, "Y-Yes. I just came here to eat dinner with the man who was killed." Yoruko's lowers her head as tears well up, "His name is Kains. We used to be in the same guild. But we got separated in the plaza. I looked around, and I saw him hanging from the church balcony…"

That's as far as she's able to go before she begins crying, holding her hands over her mouth to muffle her sobs. Hanna frowns, thinking over everything as Asuna quickly moves forward to comfort Yoruko, but continues gently questioning her, "Did you see anyone else?"

Yoruko doesn't uncover her mouth, which makes it a bit difficult to understand what she's saying, but she answers nonetheless, "It was just for a second, but I thought I saw someone behind Kains."

Asuna and Kirito share a glance, and Asuna gently pulls Yoruko's hands away from her mouth as she asks the obvious follow-up question to that statement, "Did that person look familiar?"

Yoruko only thinks about it for two or three seconds before shaking her head, "No…"

Kirito sounds hesitant as he asks his next question, "I hate to ask this… But do you know why anyone would've wanted to kill Kains?"

At that question, Yoruko's eyes widen briefly before she firmly squeezes them closed and silently shakes her head.

They stopped at the door to Yoruko's inn and she opened the door, but hesitated before turning to them, "Thank you for walking me here."

Asuna shook her head, "Don't worry about it. We can talk more tomorrow."

Yoruko seemed hesitant but agreed before heading inside. Once the door was closed, Kirito turned to Asuna, "So, now what?"

Asuna turned and began walking as she spoke, "Let's review what we know. If we learn where that sword came from, it might lead us to the perpetrator."

Kirito nodded, "Then we'll need someone with an appraisal skill. You don't… have one, obviously."

Asuna glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, "Of course not. Nor do you." She paused and stared at Kirito's back with a frown, "Also, must you address me so curly?"

Kirito turned to her, stuttering a but, "U-Um… Well, maybe… 'Miss', then?" Asuna scowled, but continued to try and appease her, "Or, 'Vice Commander-sama'?" Asuna just continued to silently stare, and Kirito turned unsure, "'Lightning Flash-sama'?"

Asuna sighed, then looked away, "Just call me Asuna."

Hanna stared at Asuna incredulously, wondering why she'd bothered to bring it up if she was just going to tell Kirito to call her what he'd been calling her for as long as they'd known each other.

Kirito just nodded, "R-Roger. Anyway, do you have any friends with an appraisal skill?'

Asuna hummed in thought, "A weapons merchant friend has it…. But this is their busiest time, so it may take a while."

Kirito nodded, "I see. Then let's ask an item merchant I know."

Hanna hummed, "That might give us lead, especially if it's player made, but we should ask Yoruko about who Kains was friends with tomorrow, given that it was likely one of them who killed him."

Kirito and Asuna turned to her with startled expressions, and Asuna frowned, "Why do you say that. There's no evidence that points to that conclusion."

Hanna frowned, "Everything we know points to that, if you just think about it." Asuna seemed to become confused, so she began explaining, "So, there are basically two scenarios here. A: It was just a duel that killed Kains, and the killer had their own reason for hanging him. Or B: Someone has figured out some sort of glitch involving hanging and stabbing someone that allows them to kill in towns. For either option there's the second question of whether Kains was an intended target or simply a victim of opportunity. That about right?"

They both nodded so she continued, "We can pretty much eliminate the possibility that Kains was simply an opportune victim for a random PKer, if we think it through. In the first scenario, Kains dies via duel. First of all, what was Kains doing in the room? He'd just gotten separated from Yoruko. The only reason would be if he was trying to use the balcony to spot Yoruko, but why not just message her? Let's ignore that for now and move onto the room and the noose. I don't know if either of you noticed, but that noose definitely wasn't tied off in a hurry like you'd expect if the killer had put it around Kains neck, pushed him off the balcony, and then quickly secured the other end. It was far too neatly and carefully tied off, which means it _had_ to have been tied off in advance. Even if it was, there's no reason to go around carrying a noose in your inventory, even if you're a PKer, because you can't choke someone to death in SAO. So why go through the trouble of making the noose and tying it off in advance? Other than the balcony, that room has zero functionality in the church. It's not even one of the rooms players can rent, otherwise we'd have seen a bed or something in there, and the only thing in there was the large table the noose was tied to. Why would a PKer be hanging around there with a noose? I mean, I might be able to understand if they were just trying to hide and Kains just found them, but if that's the case, why make the noose in the first place? Why _use_ the noose when it would just draw unwanted attention. It's not like the PKer could've used it as a diversion to escape, given that the church only had the one door and the balcony as possible exits. But considering how close together the door and balcony are, the risk of being seen leaving either is ridiculously high. Lastly, why would Kains accept the duel, and how come we didn't see the victory notification? Generally, if someone found a PKer hiding in town, they wouldn't accept a duel from said PKer, and even if they did, when your dueling someone you can't go too far from them or it counts as forfeiting, and the victory notification is large enough that we definitely would've seen it. A front liner might try to apprehend a PKer, so _maybe_ that's why Kains accepted, but given everything else, this possible version of events isn't likely."

Kirito and Asuna were both frowning now, but Hanna continued, "Ok so that's probably not what happened. Next option, Kains was an opportune victim, and the cause of death is some sort of glitch involving stabbing and hanging someone. Again we have the problem of why Kains was there to begin with, but we already went over that. In this scenario, it _kinda_ makes sense for the PKer to be lingering around with a pre-made noose, but why _there_? Marten, it's currently one of, if not _the_ most popular location for tourism and dining. And that plaza may not be the center of town or anything, but it's very close to some of the best restaurants currently available in Aincrad. Furthermore, this is the 57th floor, and the front liners are on the 59th floor, that's far too close for most PKers comfort, _especially_ combined with Martens popularity. There are far better places to use this possibly new town PKing method, but the PKer chooses here? They're almost asking to be caught. So, this probably isn't what happened either."

Hanna gave them a few moments to process all of that. After thinking it over Kirito nodded slowly, "Meaning we can rule out that Kains was just a random kill, like you said. Which means Kains was intended to be the person's target. And he most likely knew the killer and was friendly with them. After all, they knew where he'd be, and most people don't go around telling people they don't get along with what they plan on doing. It also gives us a possible reason as so why Kains was up there. It's possible he spotted his killer, which he knew, and decided to go speak with them, simultaneously getting a vantage point to find Yoruko with."

Hanna nodded, "Exactly. There are problems with this too though. Again if it was a duel, why bother with the noose? Even if it was to send a message, it also raises the risk of being caught. And again, why accept the duel? The most likely scenario is that his killer verbally requested the duel, but Kains was the one to actually send the request, allowing his killer to pick the mode, in this case to the death. But Kains already had plans, why would he accept even a seemingly friendly duel? But, why now while he's in Marten? Yes, they knew where he'd be here, but it would be a lot easier to get away with if they waited til he was somewhere where they're far less likely to be caught."

Hanna narrowed her eyes, "So that leaves us with the last scenario, and it's the most likely. Kains knew his killer, and was friendly with them, hence how they'd know where he'd be, and how they got him into that specific room with the pre-setup noose. They take him by surprise with the unknown town PK method, stabbing him and pushing him off the balcony. Then probably use the balcony themselves to leave before anyone notices Kains. Again, why they'd risk doing this in Marten instead of waiting til he was somewhere they had a better chance of getting away, I don't know, but it's the most likely scenario."

Asuna frowns, "If this is what happened though, isn't Yoruko our biggest suspect?"

Kirito quickly denied that possibility, "No. If she was why would she scream? Maybe she wanted someone to notice, but if that's the case, why linger and why voluntarily become a witness? Plus, even if we can't rely on what she said as being true, given that that particular room in the church is basically useless, it still holds true that Kains was likely friends with his killer. If this is the case, then we can assume she was at least telling the truth about being friends with him. If she was going to kill him, it would've been safer for her to ask him to met her somewhere else instead of Marten. No, it's unlikely she's our killer."

Asuna tilted her head then nodded slowly, "Alright. Well, at least this gives us more to work on. We'll ask Yoruko about Kains' friends tomorrow. For now, let's go get the sword appraised."

* * *

As they approached Agil's shop, the door opened and another player left looking disappointed. Knowing Agil, it was likely at how little the man had paid for something the player had been selling. Kirito commented on it as they entered, though Asuna hesitated outside, "Seems you're just as greedy as ever."

Agil turned to them, "Buy cheap and sell cheap. You should know that's my motto by now."

Kirito didn't miss a beat, "I don't know about that second part."

Hanna rolled her eyes as they fist bumped. They did this almost every time. Agil grinned at him lightly, "Don't go slandering my good name." Then he turned to her, "Honestly Hanna, I'd expected you to teach him some manners by now."

Asuna finally followed them in. Her presence clearly surprised Agil and he quickly grabbed Kirito, dragging him close and turning away for what was probably meant to be a private conversation, but really wasn't since Agil seemed to shocked speak quiet enough, "W-What's happened, Kirito? What are you and Hanna doing hanging around Asuna? I thought you two didn't get along with her?"

Agil continued to question Kirito, and Asuna looked utterly unsure of how to take it. Hanna just sighed and saved her mate from Agil's uncomfortable looking choke hold, "We're here to get a weapon appraised. It was used in a rather… strange murder inside a safe zone less than two hours ago."

Agil quickly composed himself and became serious, "Come to the back, we can get more comfortable there while you explain."

They were sitting around a small table, which had nothing on it except the sword that Kains had been stabbed with. Agil frowned at Kirito, "So, to sum it up, someone died inside a safe zone, and it likely wasn't a duel?"

Kirito shook his head, "No one saw a Winner message."

Asuna quickly added to that, "If he was walking with Yoruko right before, then it couldn't have been a sleep-PK either."

Kirito nodded, "And as we explained, it's highly unlikely it was a duel, whether Kains knew his killer or not. Hence, why we brought the sword. Though our suspect list is Kains' friends, we can't get that until tomorrow. This is our only other lead at the moment."

Agil picked it up with a frown, then clicked on the item and selected the appraisal option on the small menu that popped up. It took a moment, then Agil slowly told them, "It's a player-made weapon."

That shocked all of them, but Kirito was the one to verbalize it, "Seriously?"

Asuna quickly asked the important question, "Who made it?"

Agil narrowed his eyes at the appraisal menu, "Grimlock. Never heard of them… Not any top-ranked blacksmith, I can tell you that. And there's nothing particularly unusual about the weapon."

Asuna frowned, "Even so, it's a clue."

Kirito nodded in agreement, then turned his attention back to Agil, "What's the swords name?"

Agil looked back at the screen, "Let's see… It says it's called «Guilty Thorn». And technically, it's listed as a short spear, though I could understand thinking otherwise. Other than the handle being slightly larger than that of most two handed swords, it doesn't look much like a spear."

Agil offered the weapon back, and Kirito took it, "«Guilty Thorn»…" He studied it for a moment, then lowly murmured, "Okay…"

Just as he started to adjust his grip, Hanna snatched it out of his hand, "Oh no you don't. You are _not_ stabbing yourself with that too see if it'll hurt you."

Kirito frowned at her, "It's not like I was going to stab myself in the chest or anything. I was just going to stab my hand."

Hanna shook her head, "And just what were you hoping to accomplish. It wasn't the weapon that allowed a non-duel safe zone murder. It was likely a glitch or an exploit of some sort."

Kirito sighed, "What if it's the weapon itself that's glitched?"

Hanna rolled her eyes, "Then the killer wouldn't have bothered with the noose. Especially since doing so would force them to leave the weapon behind. If you're the type of person that is willing to plan and go through with a murder, you're going to find a glitched weapon that allows you to kill in town valuable, and you aren't going to let go of it easily."

She rolled her eyes at him, then handed the weapon back to Agil, "Could you hold onto this?"

He looked a bit started by the turn of events, "Eh? Uh, ya, sure."

* * *

May 20th, 2024- 562 days since SAO launch:

They'd met up with Yoruko in the same restaurant Asuna had nearly bought them dinner at the previous day. However, whereas it had been almost full the day before, it was completely empty today. It wasn't actually open yet, but as a NPC establishment, you could still enter. All you could get though was tea and water.

Yoruko had been silently staring at the table for almost ten minutes before Asuna finally broke the silence, "Yoruko, have you ever heard of a player named Grimlock?"

The question started Yoruko and she stared at Asuna with wide eyes for a moment before lowering her gaze back to the table, "Yes. He was a member of the guild that Kains and I were once in."

Kirito shared a glance with Asuna, "When we had the spear such in Kains' chest appraised, we found out that it was made by Grimlock." Yoruko's eyes widened again, and she quickly covered her mouth to stifle her gasp. After a beat of silence, Kyrie continued, "Can you think of any reason why that would be?"

Yoruko slowly lowered her hands, then nodded, "Yes, I can. I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you yesterday. I wanted to forget. It's something I don't really want to remember. However, I'll tell you. What destroyed our guild… Our guild's name was Golden Apple. Six months ago, a rare monster we defeated dropped a powerful ring that raised agility by 20. We were divided on whether to use it for the guild, or sell it and split the earnings. In the end, we put it to a vote. The vote went 5-3 in favor of selling it. Our leader, Griselda, was going to stay overnight at a large town on the front lines, to give it to a broker. However, she never came back. Later, we learned that she'd died. I still don't know why."

Kirito narrowed his eyes in thought, "No one would leave a safe zone with that kind of rare item. So, a sleep-PK?"

Asuna turned her attention to him, "Six months ago would have been just before the method really spread."

Kirito brings his loosely closed hand up, lightly resting his forefinger against his chin, "But it's hard to believe it's a coincidence. Whoever attacked her must have known about the ring. In other words…"

Yoruko looked away, "One of the other seven members of Golden Apple…"

Kirito lowered his hand, "The most suspicious ones would be those who opposed selling it."

Asuna turned to him, "You mean they attached Griselda to get the ring before it was sold?"

Kirito nodded, "Probably. Who's Grimlock?"

Yoruko turned back to him, "He was Griselda's husband. Just within the game, naturally. Griselda was a powerful swordsman. Pretty. And smart. Grimlock was a kind man who was always smiling. They made a great couple, and they got along well. If he was the one responsible for yesterday's murder, he must be after the three who opposed selling the ring." Hanna frowned as she glanced away. There was something wrong, it was niggling in the back of her head. Before she could think to much on it Yoruko continued, "Two of the three were myself and Kains."

That shocked them. If that was true, Yoruko and the other player were in danger. Kirito quickly asked her, "Then who's the other?"

Yoruko frowned, "A tank named Schmidt. I've heard he's on the front lines now, with the Divine Dragon Alliance."

Kirito frowned, "Schmidt? I've heard that name…"

Asuna composed herself, "He leads the Divine Dragon Alliance's defence forces. He's a big lance-user."

Kirito suddenly gains a look of recognition, but before he can say anything, Yoruko cuts in, "You know Schmidt?"

Kirito returns his gaze from Asuna to Yoruko, "I've only seen him a few times for boss raids."

Yoruko barely lets him finish, "Could you let me talk to him? He probably hasn't heard about what happened." Her gaze moves back to the table, "And what happened to Kains could happen to him…"

Asuna nods, "We'll find Schmidt. I know someone in the Divine Dragon Alliance. If we go to their HQ, perhaps we can talk to him."

Kirito turns to Asuna, "Then first, we should get Yoruko to an inn." He turns back to Yoruko, "Yoruko, don't leave the inn until we return."

Yoruko nods, "All right."

Hanna glances away, "We also need to find Grimlock. All the evidence points to him. It fits with what we were talking about yesterday as well."

That seemed to startle Yoruko, "Eh? What are you talking about?"

Hanna tilted her head, "We were talking about who could've done it based on what happened and what you told us. We came to the conclusion it had to have been someone Kains knew and trusted. We were going to ask you for a list of Kains friends, but with the weapon and Grimlock's history with Kains, it seems to me that he's our killer."

Yoruko nodded slowly, "I….. see."

Asuna sighed, "Well, let's get in touch with Schmidt first. We have an idea of where he should be after all. We can find Grimlock after."

* * *

After leaving Yoruko at the inn, they set off to find Schmidt. Asuna opens her window and begins messaging someone absently telling them, "Like I said, Schmidt's the leader of the DDA's defence forces, so he might be busy. We may be waiting for a while before he has a chance to talk to us."

Kirito sighed, "I know. I'm really hoping it's not the case though. You dragged us out so early we didn't get a chance to eat breakfast. Hey Hanna, what do you say we go get something really quick while Asuna talks to that friend of hers?"

Hanna hummed vaguely in agreement as Asuna jerked in outraged shock, then a moment later she began angrily berating Kirito, but he quickly waved Asuna off then touched her shoulder, pulling her from her thoughts, "Is something wrong?"

Hanna was briefly confused, then realized she hadn't really been paying attention, "I- Ya. Everything's fine. It's just… Something Yoruko said is bothering me, but I don't actually know what it is. There's just a…. an annoying niggling that I'm missing something…."

Kirito frowned, "And you don't have any idea what it is?"

Hanna tilted her head, "Well, the feeling started when she was describing Griselda and Grimlock, but before she told us she and Kains had been opposed to selling the ring…. So, it was probably something she said then….. I just don't know what it is, but it feels **important**."

Kirito is silent for a minute, thinking it over, then shakes his head, "Sorry, I can't think of anything either."

Hanna sighs, "It's fine…" Then she shakes her head before smiling at him, "Anyway! I'm starving! Let's go get breakfast!" Patting Asuna on the shoulder as she passes her, she adds, "We'll leave getting in touch with Schmidt in your capable hands Asuna!"

Asuna vaguely nods in agreement, clearly thinking about what she'd said, then jerked in realization, "Wait, what? No! You guys aren't leaving me to wait to talk to Schmidt for _hours_ on my _**own**_!"

Hanna rolled her eyes, "Relax Princess, we won't be gone that long. Although, given how early you dragged us out of bed, I doubt you've eaten either, you could just join us and then message your friend."

Asuna huffed, "These aren't real bodies, it's fine if we go a while without eating. We can just eat later."

Hanna shrugged, "Suit yourself, Princess. We may not _need_ to eat often, but you still _feel_ hungry, and eating makes it go away. So _we_ are getting something."

Asuna growled, then quickly caught up with them, "Don't misunderstand, I'm only going with to make sure you don't take too long."

Hanna grinned, "If you say so Princess."

Asuna scowled, "And stop calling me that!"

Hanna shook her head, "You're the one who made a fit about how Kirito referred to you last night, then immediately got huffy and told him to call your what he'd _been_ calling you this whole time, _Princess_."

Asuna scowled and Kirito chuckled, "I suggest you just give up and get used to it. With Hanna, once she starts calling you by a nickname, you can't get rid of it. If it bothers you that much, just take comfort in the fact you'll likely be like most of the people we know and just get one. I keep getting new ones added to the list. Not that I really mind, but if it helps you take that into consideration…"

Hanna turned to him with a smile, "That's because unlike everyone else, yours are more pet names than nicknames, love."

Kirito flushes a bit, "Really? I actually hadn't realized… I mean, don't get me wrong, I noticed that they were usually said fondly, but…"

Hanna shakes her head at him, "Sometimes you miss the most obvious things, love."

* * *

Schmidt rapidly bounced his foot anxiously for a few minutes, then turned his gaze to Yoruko, "Is it true that Kains was killed with Grimlock's weapon?"

Yoruko nods slowly, "It is."

Schmidt's eyes go wide in shock and he'd shoots to his feet, "Why would Kains be killed after all this time?! He… Did he steal the ring? Was he the one who killed Griselda?" He sits down heavily and smashes his fist against his leg, "Does Grimlock plan to kill the three of us who opposed selling the ring? Is he after you and me too?!"

Yoruko slowly lifts her head, "It could be another member, and Grimlock just made them the spear. Or perhaps it's Griselda's revenge… Only a ghost could kill someone inside a safe zone." This sudden proclamation shocked all of them, especially Schmidt. Yoruko ignored them though, slowly standing up, staring vaguely in Schmidt's direction with wide unseeing eyes, "I stayed awake all night, thinking…." Abruptly she bent over as though pained, shouting hysterically, "In the end, all of us were the ones who killed her!" She grabbed her head, pressing her palms to her eyes, "When that ring dropped, we shouldn't have ever voted…" She yanked her hands from her face and stared at Schmidt, "We should've just done what she wanted!" Backing up to the window slowly, she sat on the ledge, "Grimlock was the only one who said we should simply let Griselda decide. So he has the right to take revenge for Griselda on the rest of us."

Schmidt was shaking terribly, "You're kidding me. You've gotta be kidding me… After all this time, six whole months… Why now?" He suddenly shot to his feet, and Yoruko stood as well, "You're okay with this, Yoruko? You're okay with being killed like this?"

Kirito quickly grabbed his arm, but before he could say anything, Yoruko's gasped and her eyes went wide. Then she turned to brace herself against the windowsill, revealing the throwing knife stuck in her back in the process.

A moment later she began to tip over the edge of the window, and Hanna rushed forward Kirito slightly behind her. Even pushing her agility, she barely caught Yoruko, who muttered, "Griselda… I.. I'm…"

The last part was to low for Hanna to make out, but it was likely an apology, and a second later Yoruko disappeared, polygons drifting through the air, the knife clattering to the ground. They both stare in shock for a moment, before Kirito lifts his head and begins searching the roofs. A moment later he calls out, "Asuna, keep an eye on him."

Then jumps out the window to the roof across the street. Ignoring Asuna's shout to stop, Hanna follows after him without hesitation. Kirito runs after the person on a nearby roof, but Hanna quickly takes advantage of her higher agility stat to jump over to the same roof as the perpetrator.

The person turns to look at Kirito, then reaches into their cloak, and Kirito grabs his sword, but instead of a weapon the person pulls out a Teleport Crystal. Kirito curses and quickly pulls three throwing picks and immediately launches them at the player. However they're blocked by the system because they're in a safe zone. Hanna pushes her agility to it's limit, quickly gaining on the player, just as she catches up though, the church bells start ringing the hour and the player teleports away.

* * *

As Kirito opens the door to the room they rented for Yoruko, they hear someone draw their weapon. Upon pushing the door open, they find it was Asuna, who has closed the window and curtains and turned on the lights.

Seeing it was just them, she began berating Kirito again, "Idiot! What were you thinking?" She sighs and sheathed her sword, "Well? What happened?"

Fully entering, they closed the door, then Kirito shook his head, "It was no use. They teleported away." Kirito turned his gaze to the floor, clutching his a shaking fist, "The system protects the inns. I was certain she'd be safe here." He smashes his fist against the wall angrily, "Damn it!"

Suddenly Schmidt, who was stooped over holding his head and trembling, spoke up, "That robe was Griselda's. It was Griselda's ghost… She's come for revenge on us all!" He chuckles hysterically, "Why couldn't a ghost PK in town?"

He descends into hysterical and slightly unhinged laughter. Hanna doesn't buy the ghost story for a second. Not because she doesn't believe in ghosts, but because she's a witch and knows how they work. There were multiple holes in the idea that it was Griselda's ghost, but the biggest was the fact that unless they manage to drive someone to suicide, ghosts can't kill people.

She's pulled from her thoughts by Kirito's low murmuring, "That was no ghost. The two safe area murders have to work using sine logic that involves the system. They just have to."

Hanna feels a bit of worry at that. She knows Kirito is a sceptic of anything remotely considered supernatural to mundanes, but steely denial went a bit farther than simply scepticism. Being her mate, she'd have to find some way to break everything about magic, demons, and angels to him when they got out of here. While there was a certain logic governing magic, it was far more fluid than the laws of nature Kirito was used to. Sometimes it went directly against the rules of the world Kirito was familiar with, other times it followed them, and sometimes it pretty much ignored those rules and continuously contradicted itself. It wasn't understood very well, in comparison to how well the mundanes understood their part of things. She was beginning to think Kirito wouldn't take these revelations all too well.

* * *

An hour later the three of them sat on a bench, all of them rather down. Not only was Yoruko dead, but Schmidt had basically told them to fuck off then left. The silence between them had lasted for an almost the entire hour, but was finally broken by Asuna, "Was that black robed figure really the ghost of Griselda? Seeing those two deaths happen in front of me makes me wonder if it could be true."

Kirito didn't even glance at her, "No, that's impossible. A ghost wouldn't need a Teleport Crystal." He lifted his head suddenly, his tone changing from denial to thoughtful, "A Teleport Crystal…"

Asuna turned to him, "What is it?"

Kirito returns his gaze to the ground, "No, it's nothing."

Briefly silence feel over them again, only disrupted by Asuna manipulating her menu, then suddenly she held out something small and wrapped up to each of them, "Here."

Kirito seemed unsure, "You're giving them to us?"

Asuna frowned slightly, "What else would I be doing? You think I'm showing them off or something?"

They shared a glance then took the things Asuna was holding out, Kirito stuttering out, "U-Uh, then thanks."

When Kirito opened his up, they quickly realized that they were sandwiches, and Asuna looked away, "Their durability is nearly at zero, so you two should eat them quickly before they disappear."

Kirito glanced at her, "Y-Yeah."

Then he immediately dug into the food and a moment later mutters from in between them while staring at his sandwich, "This is really good." He took another bite before continuing, "When did you make this?"

Asuna swallowed her own mouthful below responding, "Didn't I say its durability was about to run out? I got these ready this morning."

Hanna stared at the sandwich, "You had these in your inventory all day?" Asuna nodded, causing her to frown in confusion, "Then, if you were going to give them to us anyway, why didn't you just give them to us this morning? You know, when you were complaining about us taking the time to get breakfast."

Asuna flushes, refusing to look at them, "... I forgot about them…"

Kirito absently asks her, "Where did you get these from anyway?"

Asuna pauses just before she's about to take a bite, lowering her sandwich and muttering, "It wasn't for sale." Kirito turns to her in confusion, and she continues, "It isn't from a store. You know, I can cook too."

Kirito's silent for a moment then awkwardly looks away, "W-Well, you could've put this up for auction and made yourself a lot of money."

He laughs nervously, then Asuna stomps her foot for some reason, startling Kirito and causing him to drop his sandwich which shatters. Then for a moment just stares in shock, before Asuna quickly informs him, "I don't have any more, got it?"

Kirito drops to his hands and knees. Staring at the ground where his sandwich was moments before. Hanna opens her menu and begins navigating it leisurely, "I guess it's a good thing I didn't know Asuna was bringing food and bought something to eat isn't it?"

She was rather startled when Kirito harshly shushed her and quickly turned her attention back to him. She immediately began to wonder what was going through his head when she saw the intense thoughtful look on his face, but after a moment she turned back to her menu. He'd explain whatever it was he was thinking about when he'd figured it out.

She paused as she was going through their inventory when her eyes landed on the revival item. That niggling feeling that she was missing something obvious was back. Realization hit her like a Devil Triggered punch. It slipped out in a breathy whisper without Hanna even thinking about it, "It wasn't about the ring…"

Simultaneously Kirito proclaimed to them, "Kains and Yoruko aren't dead."

They both immediately whipped their gazes to the other, giving each other intense looks as they both demanded answers from the other, " _ **What?**_ "

Kirito shook his head quickly, "I'll explain later, but this is more important."

She beckons him over with one hand, and points at the reveal item after he scrambles over, simply stating, "Griselda was married."

Kirito immediately gains a look of comprehension, "How did we not think of it before?"

Hanna shakes her head, "I told you earlier that something was bothering me about Yoruko's story. I should've realized it earlier, but I didn't. Not until I saw this."

Kirito fell silent for a moment, then yanked his head up with a wide eyed look of worry, "Then they might be in danger. We need to go, now!"

Kirito ran off, and Hanna immediately followed quickly putting the sandwich in her inventory before closing it.

A moment Asuna catches up to them looking utterly lost and more than a bit frustrated with the fact, " _Who_? What's Griselda being married have to do with anything? What did you mean Kains and Yoruko aren't dead? I saw them die myself! We all did! I'd really appreciate it if you guys would say something straight instead of just vague sentences only you two will understand the full meaning of!"

As they ran Kirito took a deep breath and began explaining rapidly, "Like I said, Yoruko and Kains aren't dead. We never actually saw them die. We just thought we did. But we really saw something else entirely. There never was a weapon or any kind of logic that would allow killing within the safe zones!"

Asuna frowned, "But-"

Kirito cut her off, "Inside a safe zone, player HP won't just drop. But an object's durability will. Like with that sandwich. Back then, Kains' armor was pierced by that spear. The spear was draining the armor's durability, not Kains' HP."

Asuna's eyes widened in understanding, "T-Then, what fell apart was…."

Kirito nodded, "Yes, just his armor. And at the exact moment it did, Kains teleported away. The effect was incredibly similar to that of someone's death. But it's still different."

Asuna let out a shuddering breath, "Then Yoruko…"

Kirito explained immediately, "The dagger was already in her the whole time she spoke with us."

Asuna sounded incredulous, "The entire time?"

Kirito nodded, "Remember… During her entire stay, she never turned her back to us. And as she talked, she kept an eye on her equipment's durability. When you're inside a safe zone, if equipment starts taking damage, additional 'health' bars will appear for them. They don't appear outside of safe zones, because if you had those along with your party members HP showing, it would clutter up your HUD. So she watched the bar drain, then at the right moment, she acted as though a dagger, thrown from outside, had stabbed her."

Asuna stared at the inn thought, "Which means the person in the black robe…"

Kirito glanced back at her, "I'd lay good odds that it wasn't Grimlock. It was Kains. Those two must have realized that they could use this method to fake their own deaths."

Asuna nodded slowly, "And their goal was to draw out the one responsible for murdering Griselda. They acted out their own deaths to create an illusionary avenger."

Kirito nodded, "They must have already been somewhat suspicious of Schmidt." Finally reaching the teleport plaza, Kirito turned to Asuna, "You still have Yoruko on your friends list don't you? We need to know where we're going."

Asuna quilt opened and navigated her window, "She's in the field, on floor 19. At the «Hill of the Cross», just outside «Ralburg»."

They quickly teleported, then Asuna prompted Kirito to continue, "Ok, I get all that, but what's Griselda being married have to do with anything?"

Kirito frowned heavily, "Because when you're married in Aincrad, you share your item storage with your spouse. If you were going to plan to murder someone for an item in their inventory, you would've realized it was pointless if they're married. Because when a married person dies in SAO, their items remain with their spouse. Which means the ring would've ended up in Grimlocks inventory. In other words, the ring was just a distraction, and the only one who knew about the ring and might have benefited from Griselda's death was Grimlock. Grimlock was also the one who forged the weapons for them and likely knew the whole plan. Further, Yoruko said that Griselda never returned and that they'd learned later that she'd died, which means they likely didn't learn it from Grimlock, even though he would've gotten a notification that his spouse had died. Lastly, i he did have Griselda killed, he might have simply gone along with Kains and Yoruko's plan just to tie up the last few loose ends. Those ends being the two who won't let the incident go, and the one who probably knows something he shouldn't. Which is why they're probably in danger. I might be wrong, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Asuna nodded firmly in agreement.

* * *

Hanna and Kirito approached the hill, both grateful to realize that Yoruko, Schmidt, and Kains were still alive. However, one of the PKers was raising his weapon to strike Schmidt, so Kirito quickly threw a pick at his hand.

As they slowed from their run, Kirito sighed in relief, "Looks like we made it just in time. So, what will you do? I have backup on the way. Do you want to fight thirty front liners?"

The PKer who seemed to be in charge scoffed, so Kirito and Hanna drew their weapons. For a few moments there was a tense stand off, then the leader snapped his fingers and the other two sheathed their weapons, "Let's go."

As the three walked off Hanna and Kirito made sure to keep their weapons trained on them. Once they were gone they put their own weapons away and turned back to Yoruko and the others. Kirito sighed, "I'm glad I was able to see you again, Yoruko."

She turned her gaze to the ground, "I planned to apologize, once everything was over. But I can't expect you to believe me."

Kirito smiled lightly at her, but before he could say anything Schmidt cut in, "Kirito… Thank you for saving me, but how did you know that those three would attack here?"

"I didn't. I just thought it was a possibility." Then he turned to the other two, "Hey, Kains, Yoruko. You asked Grimlock to make those weapons, didn't you."

They shared a glance. Then Yoruko nodded, "At first, he didn't seem willing. He said he wanted to let Griselda rest in peace…"

Kains finished the explanation, "But when we begged him, he finally forged them for us."

Kirito sighed again, "I'm sorry, but the reason he opposed your plan wasn't for Griselda's sake. He thought something flashy, like a PK in a safe zone, would attract sufficient attention for someone to take notice… We only realized it a bit ago ourselves, but we have reason to believe it was Grimlock who killed Griselda."

The three gaped silently at him for a minute, then Schmidt finally spoke up, "Grimlock… He sent that note? And he killed Griselda?"

Kirito turned to him, "No, he probably didn't do it personally. He likely left the actual murder to a PKer specializing in such things."

Yoruko sounded incredulous, "No… If he were the murderer, then why would he have helped us?"

Kirito shook his head, "You explained the whole plan to him, didn't you? This was his chance to bury the entire thing forever. He waited floor you, Schmidt, and Kains to gather, so few could kill you all at once."

Schmidt turned looked at the ground in thought, "So that's why… That's why that murder guild was here."

Kirito nodded, "Most likely, he knew them from when he hired them to kill Griselda."

Yoruko finally seemed to believe them, "That's horrible…"

Asuna suddenly spoke up, "I found him."

Turning, they all saw Asuna following Grimlock with her sword pressed against his back. Kirito nodded at her, "We can all him floor the details."

Grimlock casually greeted his the former guild mates, "It's been a long time, everyone."

Yoruko stared at him in disbelief, "Grimlock… Did you… Did you really…." She finally realized it really was the truth, and tears gathered in her eyes as age shouted at him, "Why, Grimlock? Why did you need the money from the ring so badly that you gas to kill Griselda, your own wife?"

Grimlock scoffed, "Money? Did you say money?" He chuckled briefly, then frowned at them, "It wasn't for the money. I had… I had to kill her… While she was still my wife. She was my wife in the real world, too." That startled them, but he ignored their reactions, barreling on now that he'd gotten started, "The ideal wife, the perfect wife… Pretty, submissive… We'd never had a single fight. But when we were both trapped in this world, she changed. Only one of us was overcome with fear from being trapped in a dearth game… Me. She looked so much happier, so much more alive, than she had in the real world. I had to accept it… That the Yuuko I loved was gone. Thus… Thus, I decided to forever seal her within my memories here, in this world, where murder is legal… And who could blame me?"

They stared at him in shock. Kirito broke the silence, "You killed your wife for that?"

Grimlock stared him down, "That's more than reason enough. Someday, you'll understand. Once you've found love and are about to lose it."

Kirito shook his head at him, "No. You're the one who doesn't understand. You didn't love Griselda. You only thought of her as something you owned. If you'd loved her, you'd never have been able to fathom hurting her."

Grimlock glared at him, "What do you know of love? You're just a kid."

Kirito began to move towards him, but Hanna quickly grabbed his hand. Kirito turned to her, then moved his gaze to their hands shifting his hand to grip hers and run his thumb over her wedding ring. The combined movement and Kirito's diverted attention drew the others gazes to their hands, and Grimlock made a choked sound when he saw her ring.

Kirito took a deep breath then turned back to Grimlock, "I know a hell of lot more about love than you. I doubt you'll ever understand Grimlock, but if someday you finally realize what it means to truly love someone, I hope look back and really understand what you did to Griselda. The woman that you may not have loved, but certainly loved you. The woman you betrayed."

Hanna nodded, "For now though, you'll just have to face Kains, Schmidt, Yoruko, and prison. After all, Yoruko and Kains went through all this trouble just to get justice for Griselda. It's only right that they get to see it through to the end."

At that Kains and Schmidt got up, grabbing Grimlock by the arms and leading him away. Yoruko followed behind them for a couple feet, then turned and gave a small grateful bow before hurrying to catch back up.

For a moment, the three of them just watched them leave, then Asuna spoke up, "Hey Kirito…. If you discovered Hanna had a side you didn't know, what would you think?"

Kirito turned to Asuna, slightly shocked, then looked away in thought, "That I was lucky." He glanced at Hanna, then flushed slightly and quickly returned his gaze to his feet, "I mean I already know her, and I love every aspect that makes her who she is. So, if I discovered a new side of her, it would be like getting to fall in love all over again, wouldn't it?"

Asuna turned away, vaguely looking like she was regretting asking, "Alright…." Then she closed her eyes and firmly stated, "More importantly, I'm hungry. I didn't get to finish my meal earlier."

Kirito nodded, "Yeah."

Asuna stretched her arms, "I've been away from the front lines for two days… I'll have to go back to work tomorrow."

Kirito nodded, "Yeah. We were close to clearing the 59th floor as well."

Kirito glanced back at the grave that the Golden Apple had designated as Griselda's as Asuna began to walk off, but quickly grabbed her arm to stop her. They both turned to him in confusion, and Hanna tilted her head at him, "What is it Kirito."

He just vaguely gestured towards the grave, so they both turned fully to look at what he was staring at. Standing just behind the grave was a woman, wearing the same cloak that Kains had when he 'killed' Yoruko. The very cloak Schmidt had identified as Griselda's. The woman smiled at them gratefully for a moment, then quietly mouthed, 'Thank you for protecting them' before fading away.

Kirito and Asuna were both gaping in shock, but Hanna ignored them for now, letting them process what they'd seen. She smiled at where Griselda's ghost had been, "You're welcome, Griselda."

Asuna shook her head with a smile, "Well, anyway. Let's go back to town. I still kinda owe you two a meal after all."

Hanna nodded, and the two began walking back. Kirito quickly caught up, still looking shaken, "... You two are taking that rather well…"

Asuna smiled lightly, "The world is a vast, beautiful, and surprising place. Both the two world and Aincrad."

Hanna shrugged when they turned to her, "My family… I suppose you could say we have three major sources of income. My grandpa sells model weapons, firearms, blades, occasionally even replicas."

Technically it was true, but that was mostly just the cover story for their shop so no one questioned it if someone in the family left their actual weapons lying around. It wasn't often that people who didn't already know what they actually did wandered in, but it happened sometimes. The custom replica part got started when someone asked if they took requests. He'd been a bit bored and decided he'd give it a try, then realized he enjoyed it and made it something of a hobby.

Hanna refocused on the conversation, "My pseudo aunts on the other hand, run a private investigation agency. They're very… particular about the jobs they accept, so they don't really do stuff like just finding someone's missing pet, or anything like that." Technically, they were looking into reports of demonic activity, but hey, that counted as investigating! Then she tilts her head, "Finally, my dad, cousin, and uncle are… Well I suppose the best description would be mercenaries." At Kirito and Asuna's alarmed looks she raised her hands in a placating manner and quickly explained, "They don't kill anyone or anything! More often than not, it's protecting people, but not like bodyguards. I know that probably doesn't make much sense, but it's really the best way I can describe it."

Best she could do without telling them about the demons anyway. That was an explanation that definitely _wouldn't_ happen. At least not in Aincrad, where she couldn't prove it. She shook her head, "The point is, both the investigation and mercenary businesses take my family all over the world, and while I never actually helped, I often tagged along." A blatant lie, but given how dangerous Asuna and Kirito probably thought her family's job was, they probably wouldn't take it well if she told them otherwise. That's not even touching the fact that their actual job was a hundred times worse, "Anyway, I've seen a lot of weird stuff. So a ghost isn't that strange."

Admittedly most of the stuff she'd seen was rather normal for a magical, but again, that was a topic that she wasn't going to touch on anytime soon.

* * *

May 26th, 2024- 568 days since SAO launch:

Mike and Hermione were studying in the Room of Requirement. Ever since they had started the dueling club with Professor Flitwick, they hadn't been able to get any privacy in the library, so they'd taken to coming here. Hermione was perfectly fine with it when she realized that the room could bring her any books from the library, even those in the restricted section. Mike was just glad for the security it gave them against being overheard by Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad. That and the fact it gave him guaranteed time alone with Hermione. She may not return his feelings, but she was still his friend, and he still enjoyed it being just the two of them sometimes.

Abruptly he was pulled from his potions essay by Hedwig teleporting in and offering him a note. A moment later he smiled as he finished reading the note from uncle Vergil, causing Hermione to question him, "What is it?"

Mike hands the note to her, "When I visited Marzanna with my family yesterday, I mention that I wished I could do something to try and convince people that Voldemort really is back. Aunt Kat suggested that if the newspapers here wouldn't print the truth, that I should try some international newspapers. Uncle Vergil and aunt Lady said they'd look into it. We were fairly certain _someone_ would agree. The rest of the world may have tried to stay out of that last war as much as possible, but it still spilled over into other countries. My mother told me it was terrible even when he was just thought to be a Dark Lord, with the added fact that Voldemort did something to try and make himself immortal… Well, suddenly makes the problem quite relevant on a worldwide scale."

Hermione nods and quickly reads the note, "Three of them agreed? That's great! Especially since I know all of these, they've all got great reputations!" Then she paused, a calculating gleam entering her eye, "Do you think they'd be opposed to us using a reporter not employed by them?"

That startled Mike a bit, "Huh? Uh, I don't know. Why?"

Hermione returns her gaze to him, "Because, you finally coming forward on the matter and reputable sources printing it is one thing, but the wizards and witches here are familiar with Rita Skeeter, it'll catch more attention if _she_ writes the article."

Mike tilts his head, "Maybe… But how would you get her to agree to such a thing?"

Hermione smiled viciously, "I know you haven't been reading the profit since Rita started writing about you last year during the paper, if you had, you'd have noticed that she hasn't written anything about you since just after Voldemort returned. See, _**I**_ figured out how she kept finding out things she shouldn't have been able to know, and how she kept getting interviews from the Slytherins. You see, Rita Skeeter is an unregistered beetle Animagus. I told her that she wasn't allowed to write for a year, or I'd expose her. I'm hoping unemployment might teach her a lesson, but I seriously doubt it. She can't even just get a license, because she's used her Animagus form to break into private meetings in the Ministry as well. The Aurors couldn't do anything when they thought it was just leaks telling her, they'd figure out the truth _very_ quickly if she tried to register, and she'd get arrested. I could make her a deal, if she interviews you and tells the absolute truth, I'll let her go back to writing once I've got her article."

Mike hummed in thought, "That could work…. I'll have uncle Vergil ask."

Hermione nodded then pulled a clean piece of parchment towards her, "Well, I'll get in touch with Rita, just in case."

Mike narrowed his eyes as a thought occurred to him, and he reached into his bag for his own parchment, "Actually…. I'd rather you hold off on that… I have an idea, but I'll have to ask my family first. It's a long shot, but it may convince Rita I'm telling the truth. Much as I dislike her, Rita _is_ a rather good writer, but if she doesn't believe me, it'll definitely show in the quality and tone the article. If I can convince her though… It'll help quite a bit in convincing people that I'm telling the truth. Even if my family is fine with my idea, we should wait until we hear back from the newspapers before contacting Rita. Plus, our chosen profession has given my family a few connections, I want to see if they can pull some strings."

Hermione nodded, "Alright then."

Mike quickly wrote back to Vergil, then handed it to Hedwig, "Please take this back to uncle Vergil." Hedwig nipped at his fingers, but accepted the note, and Mike sighed, "Yeah, I know. I'm not Marzanna, you're _her_ familiar." Hedwig hooted in satisfaction, then teleported away. Seeing Hermione's raised eyebrow, Mike explained, "She doesn't really mind delivering letters for the rest of us, but she's very _particular_ about making sure we understand that she's Marzanna's familiar, not the household owl."

Hermione gave him a bemused look, "You know, the more I learn about your family, the stranger they seem. Now I learn that apparently even your familiars are strange."

Mike smiled warmly, "I honestly wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

June 1st, 2024- 574 days since SAO launch:

Mike and Hermione shared a glance before entering the private room at the Three Broomsticks. Inside were three people. There was Rita of course, Mike didn't know the man, and the last was Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the British Ministry of Magic. As busy as Madame Bones was, she owed his family a favor or two, so had agreed to show up and hear him out.

Mike sat down calmly, "I won't beat around the bush, I asked you here because of Voldemort."

Rita snorted, "That much was obvious. The only thing I'm confused about is why you asked such a random group of people to come listen to your insane ramblings."

Mike leveled her with a look, "Actually, my job today is not to 'ramble' as you put it. It's too convince you all of the truth. Which is why there's a Memory Verifier here. I had _you_ bring one of your choosing so no one tries to say they were paid off."

Memory verifying wasn't a huge field of work, like potions or charms, but there was definitely a demand for it. Mostly it was private matters, and most Ministries didn't bother employing their own Verifiers seeing as they usually used Veritaserum. That said, to ensure that such people were qualified when they did, a person perusing that particular career had to take some rather grueling tests established by the International Confederation of Wizards to get a licence. His family had looked into Cyril, but only to be sure he had his license and that he wasn't a Voldemort supporter.

One of the men put a box on the table, "That would be me. Cyril Meakin." He opened the box and removed a pensive. Other than when they did government work, Memory Verifiers always used their own pensives so they could guarantee it hadn't been tampered with. After quickly checking over his pensive, Cyril nodded, "I'm ready whenever you all are."

Madam Bones gestured for them to wait, "I'd like some explanation first, Mr Sparda."

Mike nodded, "I know you don't believe me about Voldemort, and you think I'm either on attention seeking brat or just crazy, but that's _exactly_ why you're here. Voldemort _is_ alive, and he's far more dangerous than you all realize. I can prove it with just three memories. I'll answer any questions you may have as best I can, but I'd rather prove it to you first so you'll start taking me seriously instead of looking at me like I'm insane."

Madam Bones stared at him for a moment then sighed, "Very well."

Mike nods and deposits the memories of his encounters with Voldemort in his first, second, and fourth year. Showing them Voldemort's wraith like form, his horcrux diary, and his resurrection. The others shared glances, then dipped their fingers into the pensive, their eyes going glassy as they're pulled into the memory. Mike shared a glance with Hermione, hoping this all worked out.

A while later the others stirred. They all looked incredibly shaken, and it took them a few moments to gather themselves. Rita quickly turned to Cyril, "That wasn't- It couldn't- Please tell me-"

Cyril shook his head slowly, "I'm afraid, Ms Skeeter, that those memories were terrifyingly real." He put her elbows on the table, roughly gripping his hair, "Oh _Merlin_ , what are we supposed to **do**."

Mike rested a calming hand on Cyril's, "That's what I called you all here for. You've done your job Mr Meakin. You just take you pay and leave if you'd like." He turned his gaze to Amelia next, "As for you Madame Bones, I know your hands are technically tied at the moment, but you're the Head of the DMLE. You may not be able to go to wartime protocols, but you _can_ review their training and alter or up it pretty much entirely as you see fit. A lot of people will die if the Aurors aren't ready when Voldemort finally stops hiding."

Anemia nodded, an intense look of thought on her face. Rita swallowed thickly, "You want me to write about it, don't you? You realize I'd be painting a huge target on my back! I was there for the last war. I was mostly left alone, and it was still a fucking nightmare!"

Mike stared her down, "My family has been extensively researching what Voldemort did to himself to find answers. It's some of the darkest, foulest magic I've ever heard of, and was incredibly difficult to find, but we know now. What you saw in the second memory is called a horcrux. It's black magic that rips the soul in half, storing that half in an object of the caster's choosing. As long as a horcrux is intact, the caster is immortal. The fact that Voldemort didn't die after I destroyed the diary means he made more than one. Do you understand what I'm telling you Rita? The nightmare of the last war will _never_ end unless we _**do**_ something, but as long as Fudge, and therefore the UK as a whole has it's head in the sand, he's just gaining power. The longer people refuse to acknowledge the truth the higher the death count will be when he comes out into the open. I know damn well you're probably gonna do a runner." He pushes some parchment he'd pulled out while they were watching his memories towards her, "The least you can do is help me try to save lives before you do. The people here know you Ms Skeeter. While I and others you've written about may know you tend to twist your articles, the general populace doesn't know that. So just this once, be completely truthful and _**help**_ me. If you want to run after that, that's your prerogative. The only thing I would like you to change is knowledge of what exactly Voldemort did to himself. Writing that he must have used some sort of magic is one thing, but if you let on that we know exactly what magic he used, he may move his Horcruxes."

Rita stared at the parchment and quill for a bit, then picked up the quill and began writing frantically, "Damn it all! You really know how to guilt people, you know that? I'll write your article, but finding someone to publish it is your problem."

Mike pulled a rolled up parchment out, "Actually, I've already gotten that worked out. The newspapers here may not be willing, but with the horcruxes, Voldemort isn't just our problem, if he wins he'll move on to the rest of the world. Which is how my family managed to convince some international newspapers to feature the article."

Rita stared at him for a minute, then sarcastically spits, "I'm really moving up in the world."


	21. Laughing Coffin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got a beta reader! You can thank the lovely Merlenyn for my chapters being cleaned up significantly.

June 3rd, 2024- 576 days since SAO launch:

Mike and Hermione were in the Room of Requirement for breakfast, though today they were joined by Fred and George. It was the day after the three newspapers had printed Rita's article, on the front page for all three no less. They both figured Mike would be bombarded with mail today, hence why they weren't in the Great Hall. They'd roped Fred and George into helping, though originally reluctant in going with the two, they'd grown excited when they'd found out about the Room and had it explained to them. Though they were disappointed that they'd only found out about it at the very end of their last year.

Their suspicions were proven correct when over a hundred owls began streaming in through the window the Room had helpfully provided. Mike assumed it was somehow connected outside, though whether it was purely magic, or whether the castle had rearranged itself, which it was known to do occasionally, Mike didn't know.

After a long two hours of Mike, Fred, and George opening letters while Hermione kept track of how many believed him, how many who didn't, and took the few letters they decided to answer, they finally settled down.

George sighed as he stretched, "That took _forever_."

Fred nodded, "You're telling me. I don't think I've ever read so much in one sitting."

Mike hummed in agreement, "Thanks a lot for your help guys. That would've taken so much longer if it was just me reading them all." He turned to Hermione nervously, "What's the final count? Most of the ones I read seemed to believe me, but…"

Hermione smiled at him excitedly, "Out of 216 replies, only 47 outright didn't believe you, which is about 22 percent. That's honestly a lot better than I thought it'd be, given how stubbornly Fudge and therefore the Ministry is denying your claims. There were also 15 people who couldn't seem to decide if they believed you or not, or about 7 percent. While not everyone gets any of the international papers, you finally speaking out about this will likely get a lot of attention. People will talk about it to their friends, and they might pick up a copy, then they'll talk about it to others, so on and so forth. _If_ the percentages we saw in the letters are true as a whole, 71 percent of the British magical population believing you is _fantastic_."

Mike sighed, "I certainly hope that's the case, but Fudge has likely been made aware of the article already. The Ministry will undoubtedly release something to counter my memories and interview with Skeeter."

Hermione nodded, "I know, but there's not much we can do about it. The only real things they might be able to say are that you used magic to mess with Rita and Mr Meakin's minds, or that Mr Meakin is unqualified. While a healers checkup and Mr Meakin retesting for his license would counter those arguments, Rita's done a runner and Mr Meakin specifically requested his name be left out of the article. Not that I can really blame either of them, but without them we can't really do anything about whatever the Ministry forces the Prophet to print."

George frowned, "But won't most of the people you guys convinced just be brought back around to the Fudge's side?"

Hermione sighed tiredly, "We're hoping not. Undoubtedly there will be those who change their minds again, but we did the article in that specific way hoping that any counter arguments the Ministry makes using the Prophet will come off as weak. _**Hopefully**_ the percentage of people who believe us stays in our favor. If it does, Amelia will probably have more freedom to prepare under the 'guise of settling the population's concerns'. Or at least, that's what Fudge will think. She assured us that should such an opportunity present itself, she'll do far more than just pretend to prepare."

George shared a grimace with Fred, then huffed, "This sounds far too much like politics for mine and Fred's liking. Me and Fred will help as much as we can, just please don't ask us to do politics."

Fred nodded, "We hate politics. They're boring, tedious, and complicated."

Mike laughed lightly, "I'll tell you what, you guys just help when you can and try to keep people's spirits up with your jokes and pranks, and I'll do my best to keep you out of the politics. Deal?"

George shared a glance with his twin, they nodded at each other, then grinned at him, "You've got yourself a deal!" Then he sighed, "If that bastard Bagman hadn't cheated us, we'd be well on our way to having an actual shop. We could keep people's spirits up, as you put it, a lot better if we did."

Fred scowled, "Yeah well, what's done is done. No point bringing it up now."

George huffed, "I know. It just makes me so angry though."

Fred nodded, "You and me both."

Mike watched them complain a bit more in thought. He still had most of his winnings from last year's tournament. He'd offered to have them added to the family's emergency funds, but his dad had firmly denied it. As he put it, even if he hadn't entered into the tournament himself, nor wanted to complete once he realized how serious it was, he'd still won it fair and square. They weren't hurting for money, so his dad wanted him to enjoy his winnings. He'd barely gotten into them though, only spent about 75 of it over the course of the Hogsmeade visits he and Hermione had gone on. Given the vast size of his sister and families libraries, he hadn't even had reason to spend almost any of it on books that interested them, since even if his family didn't have a specific book, they probably had at least a couple on the topic of interest anyway. There had been two Hermione had really wanted and was going to buy, but he'd gotten them for her.

Mike pulled himself from his wayward thoughts, "How much do you guys need for your shop?"

The two turned to him a bit startled, then Fred tilted his head in thought, "Hmm, we talked it over before we made the bet with Bagman. It came out to about 850. Six hundred for the shop, and 250 for some things we need for development of our projects. Why?"

Mike shrugged, "I still have almost all of my winnings from the tournament left."

The twins straightened and shared a glance, before George began slowly speaking, "And you'd give us the funds?"

Mike nodded, "Sure. You guys are brilliant at what you do, and everyone could use a bit of laughter, especially now that Voldemort is back."

Fred frowned, "What do you want out of it? Your nice Mike, especially since you've pulled your head out of your ass, but…" He trailed off, then shook his head, "We couldn't just take your money without giving you something in return anyway. It just wouldn't feel right."

Mike shrugged, "Then, I don't know, make me a partner, or give me stock in your company, or something."

The twins glanced at each other, then quickly put their heads together and had a quick, low conversation, before nodding firmly to each other. They pulled away from each other, and grinned widely at him, Fred speaking for them now, "Well then, great to have you on board partner."

Mike smiled lightly, "Just do me a favor? I know you guys probably want to leave and get started on your shop as soon as possible, but our OWL and NEWT exams start today, so please stay and do them."

George eyed him with a frown, "Why?"

Mike sighed, "Don't look at me like that, it's not like I don't believe in you or anything. Like I said, you guys are brilliant at what you do, I'd actually be incredibly shocked if you _didn't_ succeed. I just don't want you guys to screw yourselves over in the rare chance it doesn't work out."

They shared glance, and Fred shrugged a bit, "They _do_ start today, and they wouldn't take that long. Two weeks and we'd be done."

George nodded slowly, "That is true…" Then he sighed, "Oh, alright. Fair enough. Can't really be mad if you're just trying to look out for us. And it's not that long to wait anyway."

Mike smiled, "Thank you."

Fred grinned at him, "But in exchange, **you** get to break the news about our joke shop to mom. She hasn't actually said anything, but I think she's been hoping since we lost our life savings to Bagman that we'd give up and get a 'real job' as she's always called it every time she lectured us. Honestly, coming up with and making our products isn't exactly easy you know."

Mike nodded, "I know, and she probably does to. She's probably just worried about what'll happen if you don't succeed. You guys have put so much effort into this that it's affected your grades. I think it's less that she doesn't believe in you or think you can't make a living off of it, and more that she's worried about you future if you fail."

They both frown thoughtfully, and George slowly spoke, "Huh, we never…. actually thought of it like that. We always just assumed…."

Mike shrugged, "I don't know what's actually going through your mother's head. Maybe it's something else entirely, that's just always what it's seemed like to me since she doesn't seem the type to discourage her children from pursuing a career of their choice purely because it isn't a 'real' job. I could completely see her attempting to discourage a particular job because it's dangerous, but not just because it isn't a proper job."

The twins fell into a thoughtful silence. After a couple minutes, Hermione cleared her throat, "Well, anyway, we need to get going. The exams will start soon."

* * *

Draco was leisurely strolling around the halls after the evening practical exams, gleefully taking points from anyone not a Slytherin. With a smirk, he noticed a group of Ravenclaw girls, huddling together rapidly whispering about something.

He strode over with the intention of putting the know-it-all's in their place, "Well, well, what do we have here? Breaking the rules?"

The girls turned to him, but to his shock rather than reluctant submission as he'd come to expect in the months since becoming part of the Inquisitorial Squad, what he received were nasty glares. One of the girls held up an international paper, "We're talking about your father and the other Death Eater scum actually. He's been rather busy lately, hasn't he Malfoy?"

Draco scowled, hiding his confusion, then held out his hand angrily, "Give me that!"

The girl glared at him, roughly shoving it into his chest, he'd barely managed to get a hold on the paper before she yanked her hand away in disgust, "You can have it."

With that, the girls all began leaving, some of them giving him nasty looks, others sticking their noses up at him. He gazed after them in pure confusion, then finally pulled the paper away from his chest to read it. He'd barely glanced at the headline before he screamed in rage. Shaking with fury, he tore off to Umbridge's office. She'd do something about this. She _**had**_ to.

* * *

Mike was eating dinner in the Great Hall, discussing the Transfiguration exam scheduled for the next day when Umbridge stormed over. With a shaking fist, she held up one of the papers that had published Rita's article, "Mr Potter! What is this?!"

Mike raised an eyebrow, "I believe I've told you multiple times that it's _Sparda_. And it looks to me to be a newspaper."

Umbridge's expression twisted into something even uglier than usual, which rather surprised Mike who didn't think it was possible, "I know what it is, Mr Potter!" She shoved the front page into his face, "I meant these atrocious _**lies**_ Rita wrote about and your part in them!"

Mike tilted his head, "It's not illegal to speak to a reporter."

Umbridge shook the paper furiously, "It is when you're slandering the good name of upstanding citizens!" Finally she seemed to calm a bit, a triumphant gleam entering eyes, "However, I suppose it _is_ your right to speak to the press. You'd best prepare yourself, I'm sure you'll be dealing with a lawsuit _very_ soon."

Mike tilted his head, "No. I won't. They'd have to be able to _prove_ that I'm lying, and they **can't**. I'm sure they realize that any attempt to do so would only prove me right and result in them being prosecuted for their criminal actions. In other words, their silence will only give further proof that I'm telling the truth.'

Umbridge scowled fiercely, "When did you do the interview?"

Mike raised an eyebrow, "I don't see how that's any of your business Professor, given that it is my personal business that has nothing to do with school and wasn't done on school grounds."

Umbridge started twitching in fury, " **When Mr Potter?!** "

Mike sighed in exasperation, "It's **Sparda**. And it was last Hogsmeade visit."

Umbridge drew a sharp breath, "There will be no more Hogsmeade trips for you. Fifty points from Gryffindor for abusing the trust this school puts in its students by allowing them to go to Hogsmeade, and another fifty for such deplorable lies!"

Mike simply tilted his head as he watched her storm away muttering furiously. Once she was out of earshot, he idly commented to Hermione in the dead silence of the Hall, "She didn't really think that first one through, did she? There are only a handful of Hogsmeade visits left."

Hermione huffed in amusement, "No, I suppose not."

Mike finally let his gaze drift over his housemates, who were all gaping at him. He sighed, "You can all be as angry at me as you want for losing us one hundred points. Just don't expect me to apologize."

There was a beat of silence, then just as Mike was turning his attention back to his food he noticed Colin straighten up with a determined expression a bit down the table. As soon as Mike was looking at him, Colin smiled, "There are things a lot more important than house points and some stupid cup."

Mike gave him a brief smile, then looked around the Gryffindor table again. There were mostly sceptical looks, a handful of angry looks, some unsure, and a scattered few such as Ginny, Fred, George, Katie, Angelina, Alicia, the Creevey brothers, and even Neville were giving him looks of pride and approval. Ronald, he noticed, looked absolutely furious. The pang of sadness took him quite by surprise, but he supposed it wasn't entirely unfounded. Ron _had_ been his best friend since they were children, and in previous years he'd always stood up for Mike whenever he lost a lot of points. Then again, for all that he'd stayed by Mike's side when he lost so many points, he'd never been very loyal when things actual took a turn for the worse.

A moment later talk slowly picked up again around him. Hermione suddenly grabbed his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze, quietly murmuring, "They'll believe you soon enough. Trust me."

Mike nodded, "I know." He hesitated momentarily, "It's just…. Ron's behavior still hurts every now and then. I know it's stupid, he was never a very good friend, or a loyal one, but…"

Hermione squeezed his hand again, "Yes, but he _was_ still your friend for the majority of your life."

Mike nodded, "I know that, I just…." He shook his head, "Never mind, it doesn't matter. Anyway, what were you saying about tomorrow's Transfiguration exam?" Hermione looked like she was about to protest, so he held up his hand, "'Mione I don't really want to talk about it, ok? I shouldn't have brought it up."

Hermione pursed her lips briefly, then nodded, "I was just asking you whether you'd studied up and practiced your Vanishing. With the way Professor McGonagall has been focusing on it, I'm almost certain it'll be in the exam. Though whether it will be in the theoretical or the practical I can't say. What do you think?"

Mike snorted, "Course I did. McGonagall hasn't exactly been subtle. It seems more likely to be in the practical to me. It's much harder to do than it's theory is to understand."

Hermione nodded, "Yes, it _is_ true that Vanishing is the hardest OWL level Transfiguration, but I still think…"

Mike let her words wash over him, drawing comfort from Hermione's consistency. It truly was remarkable the changes life brought as it went on.

* * *

June 4th, 2024- 577 days since SAO launch:

Mike scowled up at the wall outside the Great Hall, "Of course she banned the papers…"

Hermione nodded with a smile, "As I expected. She really is far too predictable."

Mike eyed her, "Why are you so happy about this?"

Hermione looked startled at the inquiry, "Oh Mike, don't you _see_? If there was one thing she could have done to make absolutely sure that every single person in this school will read Rita's article, it was banning it!"

Hermione of course turned out to be right. By the time dinner rolled around, it seemed _everyone_ had read the article, even though Mike had yet to see even a glimpse of any of the three papers. Students were talking about it everywhere Mike went, they discussed it while queuing up for classes, whispered about it at lunch and during lessons, Hermione even told him that everyone in the bathroom was talking about it when she went in there really quick before the Transfiguration exam started.

Most of them went quiet when they saw him, but a few were brave enough to walk up and question him, or just to tell him that they believed him. By lunchtime, the scepticism from his housemates had vanished, and it seemed like the rest of the school believed him now as well. If the looks he got from the other students was any indication, though the strangest reaction had to be the respectful nods he received from a group of Slytherins, amongst which were Tracey Davis, Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass, and her younger sister Astoria Greengrass. He'd thought for sure the four of them were in Malfoy's little group, and would therefore be on his side, but apparently he was wrong.

He wasn't exactly complaining though. He didn't know if that's _actually_ what it meant, but if those nods were some sort of indication that they weren't on Voldemort's side, then he'd accept it without comment.

* * *

June 9th, 2024- 582 days since SAO launch:

Sirius barely stopped himself from smiling in pure satisfaction as Tonks tripped. Not because she tripped, but due to the fact that in an attempt to grab onto something, she accidentally smacked the edge of the boiling pot of water Molly had going for dinner in _just_ the right manner to send the water all over Potter.

Though as he and Remus began to check Potter over he couldn't help the minor stab of irritation. He hated having to continue pretending to be Potter's friend. He consoled himself with the fact that while he may have pretend to care about his well-being, Potter's recent string of terrible luck was immensely satisfying, given that it had been Remus, the Sparda's, and himself that were the cause of it. Partially anyway. They'd cursed him. Put simply, as long as Potter thought the Sparda's his enemy, even a single one of them, he'd suffer bad luck. The more of the family he considered his enemy, and the more intense his negative feelings and thoughts were about them, the worse his luck would be and the more frequently said luck would strike.

The curse had only been on him a four days, yet already his house had gotten a sudden infestation of Cornish Pixies, he'd fallen down the staircase in his manor twice breaking five bones total, nearly choked to death while eating on multiple occasions, and gotten badly burnt by a freak malfunction while floo calling Dumbledore. Dante had hesitated to let them leave the curse on him, since it went against his beliefs, but had dropped it faster than Malfoy dropped money into the pockets of politicians, when he was reminded that James wouldn't be suffering like that if he didn't consider the Sparda family his enemies, and more importantly, it was revenge for his years of abusing Marzanna.

Sirius was pulled back to the present when Potter furiously snapped at them all, then stormed off to go apply some burn salve. A moment later they heard the telltale signs of him tripping over the troll leg Umbrella stand, as his mother's portrait began shrieking at Potter, he began cursing violently.

As he and Remus once again began heading towards him, to again continue the charade of being his friends, Remus leaned over and whispered, "You'd think with his recent bad luck, he'd of had the sense _not_ to sit right in front of the stove or go storming of."

Sirius once again had to fight to stop himself from smiling as he nodded. And to think, they weren't done with Potter just yet.

* * *

June 12th, 2024- 585 days since SAO launch:

Mike was filling in his star chart for the astronomy practical. As he completed the Orion constellation the front doors of the school far below him opened up spilling light down the steps and let out six people. Even from this distance, he could make out Umbridge leading five Aurors with his heightened eyesight. At least, he was pretty sure they were Aurors by their robes.

This... did not seem good. Especially as they seemed to be making their way towards Hagrid's hut and it was midnight. Glancing at Hermione, he waited until she finished marking something down and pulled her quill from her chart, then lightly elbowed her. At her irritated look he pointed down at the group making their way across the lawn, quietly whispering, "It's Umbridge. And she's got Aurors with her."

Hermione squinted down at the lawn, then glanced at the teachers and adjusted her telescope to look down at the lawn and took a quick glance before hurriedly re-adjusting her it before the examiners noticed. She scowled fiercely down at the lawn, furiously hissing, "What's she doing?"

Mike scowled as they reached Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door, "Nothing good. I can guarantee it."

The door opened and the six quickly entered the hut, the door closing behind them immediately. Professor Marchbanks came walking behind them at that point, so they reluctantly returned their attention to their star charts. However, a few moments later a furious roar came from Hagrid's hut, loud enough that everyone on the Astronomy Tower heard it. A few people on the side facing the hut, pulled away from their telescopes and peered in the direction of Hagrid's hut.

Professor Tofty, who was also supervising the exam, gave a small dry cough, "Try and concentrate, please." Most of the students quickly refocused on their charts. Though he and Hermione shared a worried look. Professor Tofty must have noticed, as he cleared his throat, "Ahem. Twenty minutes to go."

They reluctantly turned back to the exam, but before they could do anything, a loud 'BANG' came from Hagrid's hut. Hagrid was now in front of his hut surrounded by Umbridge and the Aurors, who seemed to be attempting to stun him.

Hermione cried out at the sight, "No!"

Professor Tofty admonished her in a scandalized voice, "My dear, this is an examination!

Nobody was paying attention to him or their star charts anymore though. They were all watching as the Aurors and Umbridge continued to shoot jets of red light at Hagrid, though they seemed to bounce off of him, and he was still upright and fighting. Cries and yells echoed across the grounds, and a man shouted, "Be reasonable Hagrid!"

Hagrid roared, "Reasonable be damned, you won't take me like this, Dawlish!"

Mike could see Fang attempting to defend Hagrid, jumping at the group repeatedly until a stunner hit him. Hagrid howled furiously, lifting the caster bodily from the ground and threw him what looked like ten feet, and the person did not get back up.

Parvati, who was leaning over the parapet, shouted and pointed to the front doors. They had opened again, and Professor McGonagall hurried out. Professor Tofty anxiously called out, "Now really! Only sixteen minutes left, you know!"

He was ignored once again in favour of watching Professor McGonagall running across the lawn, furiously shouting at the group attacking Hagrid, "How dare you! How _dare_ you! Leave him alone! On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, absolutely nothing to warrant such-"

Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati all screamed as the group near the hut sent no less than four stunners. Halfway between cabin and castle the spells slammed into her chest, for a moment she looked luminous and glowed an eerie red, then she was lifted right off her feet, landed hard on her back, and stopped moving.

Professor Tofty seemed to have forgotten the exam at that, shouting incredulously, "Galloping gargoyles! Not so much as a warning! Completely outrageous behaviour!"

Mike completely agreed. In fact, he'd not just snapped his quill, he'd clutched the parapet so hard the stone had shattered under his hand. As Hagrid started shouting about them being cowards, Mike quickly re-adjusted his telescope, and pointed it towards the hut, making sure to get a good look at the Aurors faces. He was just in the knick of time, as a moment later Hagrid knocked two of them out.

Hagrid suddenly doubled over, as though he'd succumbed to the barrage of spells, but a moment later he straightened with Fang on his back.

Umbridge seemed to realize Hagrid was getting ready to run, as she furiously screamed, "Get him! Get him!"

The final Auror seemed highly reluctant to get within range of Hagrid's firsts though. In fact he backed away so quickly he tripped over one of his unconscious colleges and fell. Hagrid ignored him though, choosing instead to take off towards the gates, quickly disappearing into the night.

There was a long minute of tense silence as everyone stared wide eyed at the grounds. Professor Tofty broke it, feebly informing them all, "Umm… Five minutes left, everyone…."

Mike took a deep breath, got a new quill from the Professor, and forced himself to work on his chart. As soon as the exam was announced to be over, he haphazardly shoved the telescope back into its holder and began making his way towards Gryffindor Tower furiously.

Hermione caught up to him quickly, practically vibrating witty rage, "That evil woman! Trying to sneak up on Hagrid in the dead of night!"

Mike growled, "She clearly wanted to avoid what happened with Trelawney. Hagrid's lucky his giant's blood protected him so well."

Hermione nodded, "He is. Poor Professor McGonagall… Four stunners straight to the chest, and she isn't exactly young, is she?"

Mike growled again. Arriving in the common room, he ignored that everyone seemed to have been woken up by the commotion outside and quickly claimed a corner table, then yanked a small piece of parchment, a quill, and a spare potions vial out of his bag. He quickly concentrated, then used his wand to pull the memory of the indecent from his mind and dropped it in the vial. Normally in such an occurrence, if the memory was placed into a pensieve to be viewed, the viewer would appear right next to him. However, he had keen enough eyesight to see enough details, that combined with his complete focus on what had been going on, a viewer of this memory would appear near Hagrid.

After roughly shoving the cork back into the vial, he grabbed his quill and quickly penned a note, _'You need to have a talk with your Aurors about excessive force and the fact Umbridge does_ _ **not**_ _have the authority to evict anyone from Hogwarts. They could've killed McGonagall and Hagrid.'_

Hedwig, sensing that he needed her, choose that moment to show up. Mike tensely tied the note off, and held out the vial to her, "Please take this to Madame Bones."

As though she knew the matter was serious, Hedwig didn't bite him or anything for once. She simply took the vial carefully, nodded in acceptance to his request, then teleported away.

Hermione sat down next to him, quietly informing him, "Colin says they saw McGonagall get taken back inside through their window. I'm sure Madame Pomfrey is already taking care of her."

Mike nodded sharply. For a few minutes they sat in silence, then Hedwig came back. Taking the note he quietly read it over, ' _Mike, you're lucky I had a late night in the office, else your owl might have missed me.'_ Mike snorted, Hedwig would've teleported to Madame Bones' home and woke her up if she'd had to. Though perhaps it was better she hadn't needed to, Madame Bones probably wouldn't have appreciated getting woken up in the middle of the night. Shaking his head he read the rest of the note, _'Mr Hagrid should not have attacked the Aurors, but given they were wrongly attempting to force him from his home, I shall overlook his assault on Ministry employees. No matter what Mr Hagrid was doing however, there was no reason whatsoever to attack Professor McGonagall. Rest assured, I shall be having a_ _ **long**_ _conversation with my Aurors on excessive force when they return.'_

Mike nodded in satisfaction. Hermione, who had been reading over his shoulder, smiled slightly, "Well, I'm glad they won't get away with this. Even better that Hagrid won't get in trouble."

Mike glanced at her, "Even if Madame Bones wasn't willing to overlook it entirely, he wouldn't have gotten into too much trouble. He wasn't really doing anything to them until they attacked Professor McGonagall." He sighed, "Anyway, with that out of the way, I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Hermione."

She nodded, "Right, we still have exams to take, even if there's nothing tomorrow morning. Goodnight, Mike."

* * *

June 13th, 2024- 586 days since SAO launch:

He was walking down the corridor towards the Department of Mysteries, and was utterly determined to reach his destination this time. The door swung open for him, and he found himself in a circular room with many doors. Ignoring the rest, he strode straight across and through the next door. There were flecks of dancing light on the walls and floor, and a strange mechanical clicking, but he ignored that as well. There was no time, he need to hurry.

He jogged to the last door, which swung open for him as well. Now he was in a cathedral sized room full of shelves and glass spheres. His heart was hammering in his chest as anticipation filled him. Walking down the ends of the rows he carefully read the labels, until he reached 97. Turning left, he hurried along the aisle between two rows of shelves.

At the very end there was someone slumped on the ground, moving slowly like a wounded animal. His mouth opened, and a high cold voice that was not his own spoke, "Take it for me… Lift it down, now... I cannot touch it…. But you can…"

The person shifted a bit, and Mike saw a long fingered unnaturally pale hand clutching a wand rise at the end of his own arm, and the high, cold voice spoke again, "Crucio!"

The man on the floor screamed in pain, attempted to stand then fell back down, writhing in pain. High cold laughter was coming from Mike's mouth. He lifted his wand, and the curse lifted. The person groaned, then went motionless. And Mike's mouth moved on its own again, the high cold voice telling the person, "Lord Voldemort is waiting…"

The person slowly lifted himself up a bit on trembling arms, then lifted his head, revealing none other than James Potter. His face was bloodstained and twisted in pain, but there was a defiant look in his eyes, "You'll have to kill me."

Mike felt his lips twist into a cruel smile, "Undoubtedly, I shall in the end. But you will fetch it for me first Potter. You think you have felt pain thus far? Think again. We have hours ahead of us, and no one to hear you scream."

Mike jolted awake. Looking around in confusion for a moment, he remembered he'd been in the middle of his History exam. He frowned. That vision… He didn't think it had been real. Not only did it feel… off, it also didn't make much sense to him. If Voldemort had only just gotten there, as the vision suggested, why was Potter already on the ground in pain? Because of a follower? Then where were they? Better yet, why bother with Potter when his follower could just retrieve it for him if Voldemort couldn't touch it. The fact he'd been dreaming of the Department of Mysteries ever since he'd had to employ Severus defence technique only made him more sceptical.

Shaking it off for now, he calmly returned to his exam. He'd tell Severus after the exam was over, but he wasn't overly worried about it. Potter was one of those few humans he would _**not**_ go out of his way to save.

* * *

Bellatrix Lestrange shifted impatiently. Where in Merlin's name was the filthy Potter brat? He should've been here hours ago! Her Master had assured her he'd show up much sooner to 'rescue' his blood traitor father! Could he not get away because of Umbridge? If so, her Master would be furious, and he'd likely take it out on Lucius, seeing as he had Fudge's ear _and_ was on the board of governors. He probably could've gotten rid of her if he'd wanted. That would be entertaining, as long as her Master didn't turn his wrath on her.

She was pulled from her thoughts as members of the Order of the Phoenix began showing up. Scowling furiously, she threw herself into the fight, though she kept to light spells like the stunner. They couldn't afford the glass ball the prophecy was recorded in breaking after all. She shouted orders telling the others as such just to be safe.

As they fought, she soon realized they were losing. She'd be no good to her Master if she got caught. With a final stunner towards her traitorous cousin, she quickly fled. She only made it to the Ministry entrance before a spell slammed into her from behind, stopping her mid-run.

A moment later Albus bloody Dumbledore came around to her front. He gave her a grave look, "What have you done with Mike? I haven't seen him anywhere."

Feeling her mouth, and only her mouth, unfreeze, she scowled at him, "What are you talking about. The disgusting little half breed never showed up!"

Dumbledore frowned, but before he could say anything, her Master showed up, immediately sending a killing curse at the old bastard. As Dumbledore apparated out of the way, her Master tilted his head towards her, "Potter truly didn't show?"

She swallowed thickly, "No, my Lord. He didn't."

Her Master frowned, "I see…."

At that point Dumbledore attacked him, and the two began to battle. Halfway through she unfroze as her Master began pushing Dumbledore enough that he couldn't concentrate enough to hold the spell on her. She quickly retreated to one of the fire places, and hid next to it, not willing to floo back to their headquarters until she was sure her Master wouldn't need her for anything.

However, before long, Ministry employees began to floo in, amongst them the idiot Minister himself. There was a beat of silence as everyone stared at Dumbledore and her Master in disbelief. Bellatrix glanced at her Master and knew he was preparing to call it a loss and apparate away, so she decided to take advantage of everyone being distracted to floo back before anyone noticed her. Just as she slipped into the fireplace, she heard the first screams and the telltale pop of her Master apparating away. She grimaced, she really hoped Lucius got away, otherwise, it might very well be her that her Master takes his anger out over the disaster this had turned into.

* * *

June 14th, 2024- 587 days since SAO launch:

At breakfast the next day, everyone's routine was once again shaken up, this time by the delivery of the Daily Prophet announcing Voldemort's return and the Ministry's official statement on the matter. The students weren't very surprised, but Umbridge shot to her feet with a cry of disbelief.

She shook like a leaf for a few minutes, then turned her furious gaze to Mike, marching around the head table and towards him, " _ **You**_! You did this somehow! You filthy little _**liar**_! I'll- I'll-"

What exactly she was going to do was cut off by the Great Hall's doors banging open, letting in Madame Bones herself along with fifteen Aurors. Without waiting a moment, Madame Bones loudly announced to the Hall, "Dolores Umbridge you are hereby under arrest for possession of an illegal artifact, illegal use of an artifact, and abuse of minors in your care."

Umbridge froze in shock, "Wh- What?" An Auror grabbed her arm, but she yanked it away, "Get your filthy hands off of me! You can't do this! I'm the Undersecretary to the Minister! Minister Fudge-"

Madame Bones cut across her, " _Former_ Undersecretary. You were fired two hours ago pending the investigation into your crimes. As for the Minister, he's in enough hot water as is considering his stubborn denial this past year. He's not about to stick his neck out any further when he's already on the chopping block."

The Auror grabbed her again and began dragging her out, and she began to struggle, shouting furiously the entire time. Mike smiled in satisfaction. Madame Bones promptly ignored Umbridge, turning her attention to the rest of the Hall's occupants, "Would those of you who have served detentions with Dolores Umbridge please remain in the Great Hall for questioning, the rest of you need clear out."

Dumbledore stood and smiled at the students, though Mike could see the carefully concealed anger in his eyes, "Well, in the interest of keeping out of the Aurors' ways, those of you who weren't asked to stay return to your common rooms until further notice."

Mike gave Hermione a reassuring look as she reluctantly began to stand while he remained seated. After she left, he watched the Aurors begin to spread out to talk to the students idly until he met Madame Bones' eyes. He couldn't quite keep the satisfied grin off of his face, though thankfully Madame Bones didn't take it the wrong way, instead flashing him a viciously victorious grin in return.

* * *

June 25th, 2024- 598 days since SAO launch:

Kirito entered the shop anxiously. He and Hanna had come to the conclusion that he needed a second sword that was at least equal to his beloved Elucidator for his Dual Wielding, and he needed it rather badly. He really couldn't afford to keep putting it off. The problem was, Argo had requested their assistance. She'd sworn that they were the only ones she could trust. He'd nearly put off getting his sword, but Argo upon Hanna asking, assured them that she only needed one of them.

So, Hanna had made him go to the shop Asuna had recommended to them when she overheard them talking about him needing a sword. As she had put it, she doubted he could get into _too_ much trouble just going to a shop, even if he was on his own. However, it had been so long since he and Hanna had been out of each other's line of sight that being separated from her for so long was filling him with anxiety.

He didn't know what was worse, the fact that he'd developed separation anxiety towards his wife, or the fact that it clearly impaired his judgement. That was honestly the only reason he could think of for why he'd decided to test the blade Lizbeth had handed him against his Elucidator. He'd been worried she'd kick him out, but after just a little bit of goading, she was telling him about a dragon that supposedly dropped a rare material. He wasn't expecting her to turn it around on him and force him to take her with though.

He sighed as they left. Hanna apparently underestimated his ability to get himself into trouble.

* * *

Hanna sighed as she made her way back to the house. It was nearly midnight, and given that she'd grabbed something to eat on her way back, she really just wanted to curl up in bed with her mate and go to sleep. She paused as it came into view. All of the lights were off, indicating that Kirito was either asleep or hadn't gotten home yet. She sincerely doubted he would've gone to bed without her, and now that she thought about it, given how nervous he'd seemed about separating, it was strange she hadn't gotten any messages from Kirito when she ended up taking longer than they anticipated.

She frowned as she wondered what he'd managed to do that had apparently turned what was supposed to be a simple errand into something much more troublesome. She shook it off as she entered the house. She'd know if anything had happened to him. They may not be bonded, but now that she was aware of their bond itself, she'd know immediately if anything happened to him from it fading. Not to mention, she'd get a notification from the system that her spouse had died.

Making herself comfortable on the couch in the living room, she opened her menu to message him. Those plans were derailed when she saw his name greyed out. He wasn't dead, she'd know, and there wasn't a cross next to his name anyway. So then…. He was in a dungeon? That was really the only explanation. She sighed as she closed her menu, then settled down more comfortably to wait for him. She may know if something happened to him, and he may be able to take care of himself, but that didn't mean she wasn't worried about him.

* * *

June 26th, 2024- 599 days since SAO launch:

At some point, she must've dozed off, as her alarm woke her up. Sitting up, she looked around for a bit, quickly coming to the conclusion Kirito hadn't been home yet. She bit her lip in worry, before focusing on her growing bond with Kirito. It didn't tell her anything more than her vague awareness of it had, just that he wasn't dead.

The sun wasn't even quite up yet, but she shook the sleepiness off and opened her menu again. Nope, still greyed out. He'd stayed in a dungeon overnight? She frowned in worry. Had he gotten stuck somehow? It wasn't unheard of. Damn it! This is why you told someone where you were going!

With an aggravated sigh, she got up. Maybe the shop owner could tell her where he'd gone. And if not… Well, her best option at that point would be to wait for him there anyway.

Hanna straightened up when she saw Kirito approaching the shop with a pink haired girl. The knot of anxiety in her stomach slowly released. He hurried over when he saw her, and uncaring that the girl was watching, she quickly pulled him into a kiss.

After a minute, she slowly pulled away, "Honestly, I left you alone for a day, you were supposed to just be going to a _shop_. What were you doing in a dungeon? Do you have any idea how worried I was you'd gotten stuck or something when you didn't come home last night? You could've at least told me where you were going."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. It's just, Lizbeth-" he paused and flushed lightly as he realized they'd kissed in front of the wide eyed girl, then pushed on, "She, ah… I kinda broke her best weapon, and she said that she could make me a fantastic weapon if she just had the materials. So I said I'd get them, and she told me about this dragon on the 55th floor, but _she_ said you needed a Master Smith with you to get it to drop, which was a total lie by the way, it-"

Hanna was utterly amused. It was rare for her mate to ramble, and he usually did it because he was passionate about the subject, not because he was flustered. Lizbeth, however, choose that moment to break into his rambling, "Hey, I didn't lie! I told you, an npc in the village at the base of the mountain mentioned the drop, but no one had gotten it, so the running _theory_ was that you needed a Master Smith!"

Kirito shook his head, "Ya, but you only told me that _after_ we left!"

Lizbeth opened and closed her mouth, looking like she wanted to argue further but didn't know what to say. It was then that Hanna noticed the carefully concealed pain in her eyes directed at Kirito, the girl honestly looked like she wanted nothing more than to be alone at the moment.

Glancing between them, she quickly got an idea of what it might be, "Well! Did you get the materials?" Kirito turned back to her, and nodded, so she smiled at Lizbeth, "I'm sorry to trouble you, but do you think you could go inside and get started? I'd like to have a… talk with Kirito about destroying a shopkeeper's merchandise and running off on an impromptu adventure without telling me."

Kirito's blush deepened, but had the decency to look apologetic. Lizbeth gave her a startled look, and her eyes widened. She was an observant one, she'd apparently realized what Hanna was doing if the mixture of embarrassment and gratitude in her eyes was any indication. Moving over to the door, she opened it, then hesitated as she glanced back at them. She apparently decided to take pity on Kirito, "Umm… The forge and the shop are separated… You could talk in the shop, so no one overhears."

Hanna nodded lightly, then followed her inside. Kirito quickly gave her a solid blue crystal… thingy, that Lizbeth seemed reluctant to handle. She took it anyway though, then retreated to the back room, where Hanna assumed the forge was. She waited until the door between the forge and shop was closed before turning to Kirito. He was staring at his feet, with his hands shoved in his pockets.

Seeing his downtrodden expression, she huffed a laugh, "Oh, don't look so much like a kicked puppy. I'm not going to chew you out. I'm pretty sure you understand perfectly well that breaking people's stuff, especially when that stuff is their merchandise, isn't acceptable behaviour. Honestly, I'm actually mostly just shocked you'd do that."

He lifted his gaze cautiously, as though unsure if she meant it, then sighed, 'Yeah well….. I- That is, I've apparently…. developed separation anxiety torwards you…. To the point it negatively impacts my judgement…. At least that's the only reason I can think of that I did that, even though I _knew_ I shouldn't."

She can't help having a bemused smile, "Really? Because to me it sounds less like it impacting your judgement, and more like you decided on a subconscious level, if you proved me wrong by getting in as much trouble as you could while we were separated, I'd be less likely to leave you alone. Then just convinced yourself it impaired your judgement."

Kirito flushed again, "I did not!"

Hanna's smile widened, "If you say so." Then she turned more serious, "Why didn't you tell me where you were going? What if you'd gotten stuck or something and needed help? While not common, it's not exactly unheard of."

Kirito's flush deepened, "W-Well…. Actually…."

Hanna pinched the bridge of her nose, "You were stuck. That's why you didn't come home, isn't it." It was more of a statement than a question, but Kirito nodded reluctantly anyway. Hanna sighed, "This is why you should've told me where you were going. What if you hadn't found a way out? How was I supposed to _find_ you, much less _**help**_ you."

He looked away, "I know…. I'm sorry."

She shook her head, then wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for another kiss. Honestly, they hadn't even been separated for a day, yet she'd missed him so much. She didn't even want to think about how they were supposed to cope when they got out. Sure they'd likely see each other everyday, but that was **completely** different. There was a huge difference between seeing each other everyday, and living together and rarely being out of one another's sight.

She sighed again, though she didn't verbalize what she was thinking. Her worrywart was undoubtedly already fretting over that, she wasn't going to add to it. Even if it really seemed like they were kinda screwed when they returned.

A few minutes later they pulled away from each other when Lizbeth came back. She seemed to have pulled herself together, and happily held out a blue sword to Kirito, "Your custom sword, just as strong if not stronger than your current sword."

Kirito smiled lightly, "What's it called?"

Lizbeth grinned at him, "Dark Repulser."

Kirito accepted the sword, then turned away from Lizbeth to give it a few experimental swings, "It's heavy."

Which of course, meant Kirito was happy with it, something Lizbeth seemed to understand if the way she beamed was any indication, "You better like it after all the trouble we went through to get it!" Then she seemed to remember something, "Oh yeah! I came to a decision regarding you breaking the best sword I'd ever made before that one!"

Kirito gave her a nervous look, "Y-Yeah?"

She smiled widely, "Yes! In return for breaking my sword, from now on you two have to come to me for your Weapon needs, given that I can't help you with your armor. You got that? I'm you two's Smith from now on!"

Kirito breathed a sigh of relief, then nodded in agreement, and Lizbeth smiled at them. Then Lizbeth tilted her head at him in curiosity, "If I can ask though… Why do you need a new sword? Yours seems perfectly fine to me."

Kirito shifted nervously, and Hanna elbowed him with a grin, "Hey now, we agreed to keep it a secret until we got a Smith. Well, guess what? We've got a Smith."

He sighed, "Oh, alright."

With that he quickly manipulated his menu, changing his active sword skill to Dual Wielding, and equipping Dark Repulser. Closing his menu he maneuvered a bit until he had an acceptable amount of space, then he charged up a skill and immediately released it. After showing Lizbeth, he turned to her unsurely, "... That's how it is."

Lizbeth stared wide eyed for a moment, then tilted her head again, "Unique?" Kirito nodded and she stared again, "...I see. I suppose I can't blame you for being secretive about it."

Kirito nodded, but before he could say anything Asuna came running in, "Lizbeth! You're alright! Your name was greyed out almost all day yesterday! Do you have any idea how worried I was? Where were you?"

Lizbeth smiled at her, "In a dungeon, getting the materials for his sword."

She gestured to Kirito, and Asuna turned to him, "Kirito? What are you doing here?"

He tilted his head, "I should think it was obvious seeing as you're the one who recommended me. I was getting a sword."

She glanced down at his new sword, "Oh….." Suddenly her eyes narrowed and she turned back to Lizbeth, "He took care of you, right? He didn't make any inappropriate advances, did he?"

Kirito sputtered, and Lizbeth laughed a bit, "The jerk broke the best sword I'd ever made!"

Asuna glared at Kirito for a minute, then without looking away bluntly asked Lizbeth, "Do you want me to beat him up for you?"

Kirito backed away with his hands up, and Asuna advanced on him, cracking her knuckles, though it was purely for effect. Lizbeth laughed, and Hanna figured if they were joking, she might as well join in, "Now, now, Asuna. I already have to save Kirito enough as is, if I have to save him from a dragon lady like you, people will start thinking he's a damsel in distress."

Kirito gave her a betrayed look, while Asuna and Lizbeth cracked up.

Asuna grinned at her, "I suppose that would make you the valiant knight, hmm?"

Hanna snorted, "Of course."

Lizbeth grinned, "Do you hear that Kirito? You fail as a valiant knight, so badly that you've been demoted to damsel status."

Kirito huffed, "I don't suck at being a 'valiant knight', as you put it, _my_ damsel just doesn't need saving. I would save her in a heartbeat if she did, but she doesn't."

Hanna just smiled lightly at him at him.

* * *

July 10th, 2024- 613 days since SAO launch:

Mike was eating dinner with his family when two owls came in through the window. He'd been expecting this since this morning when Hedwig teleported next to him with a letter from Hermione excitedly telling him about her exam scores. He'd figured his were taking a bit longer due to the distance, but knowing that his scores were on their way and having all day to think about that had made him nervous.

Yes, with his family's tutoring, he now felt that Hogwarts' education was sub-par and the exams had seemed kinda easy, but the waiting had really gotten to him. He wasn't even sure why he was so anxious, given that he had no idea what he wanted to do once his education was finished and Voldemort had been dealt with. He wasn't even entirely certain if he wanted to be a Demon Hunter, but he didn't think he did. Yes, he'd get to help people and keep them safe, but after the revaluation of his life he'd gone through after the first task, he'd become tired of fighting. He had a suspicion that after the war with Voldemort was over, he'd be completely over it.

If he didn't end up an actual Hunter, perhaps he'd help his family in a manner similar to aunt Kat, investigating demonic activity and the like. Though given that demons were incredibly good at sniffing out his family, he didn't think that would work. His family had assured him that he didn't **have** to have any part in their business if he didn't want to, but he felt like that would be letting them down, even if his mother told him that wasn't true at all.

He was yanked from his thoughts by Nero nudging him in the ribs, "Are you just gonna stare at it, or are gonna open it and tell us what it says?"

Mike shook his head to clear the last of his wayward thoughts, "Right, sorry, just thinking." He nervously opened it, then read the letter aloud:

' _Ordinary Wizarding Level Results_

_Passing Grades_

_Outstanding (O)_

_Exceeds Expectations (E)_

_Acceptable (A)_

_Failing Grades_

_Poor (P)_

_Dreadful (D)_

_Troll (T)_

_Mike Sparda has achieved:_

_Astronomy A_  
Care of Magical Creatures O  
Charms O  
Defense Against the Dark Arts O  
Divination A  
Herbology O  
History of Magic A  
Potions O  
Transfiguration O'

Mike sighed in relief. He wasn't surprised at the three A's at all, he was terrible at those subjects, though his grandmother had made sure he was good enough to pass. He hadn't been sure about the Astronomy Exam, since it had been interrupted, but he supposed they took that into account when they were grading.

Kyrie beamed, "See? I told you all that nervousness was unfounded. There's no way you wouldn't have done well with how hard you've been studying."

Mike smiled at her, "Ya, thanks Kyrie."

His mom leaned over, "What's the second one? It's got a Hogwarts crest, but normally they wait a bit before sending out the course selection sheet and the supply list for the classes you're eligible for."

Mike shrugged, then opened the second letter. Inside was a thick packet of folded parchment. He knew from his mom that unless they'd changed how they did things drastically, it should be about a packet giving details on the courses he was eligible for, what he'd need for them, and of course, the course selection sheet he needed to send back. However, there was also a separate note inside.

Opening it he read it over quickly, _'Dear Mr Sparda,_

_Normally we wait a few days before sending this packet out to allow students time to process and think over their OWL scores, and how it will affect their future. However, given the distance between your current residence and Hogwarts, I'm sending it to you now to ensure you have enough time to think over what courses you will select and send the corresponding selection sheet back._

_Your course selections must arrive by no later than July 31._  
Yours sincerely,  
Minerva McGonagall,  
Deputy Headmistress'

Mike turned back to his mom, "McGonagall said she sent it early to make sure I had enough time to send it back."

His mom nodded, "I see. That makes sense. Have you decided what classes you're taking yet, or do you still need to think it over?"

Mike nodded, "I'm gonna drop Astronomy, Divination, and History of Magic, but other than that, I think I'm going to keep the same classes. I'm not very good at the other three, and I don't have much use for them anyway."

His mom tilted her head in thought, then nodded, "Alright. You need to fill out your class selection form and send it back then. We'll pick up the things you need later." Then she smiled slyly, "Plus, I'm sure if you don't write Hermione back telling her your scores she'll go crazy."

Mike flushed lightly, but ignored his mother's teasing and Nero's snickering as best he could.

* * *

August 15th, 2024- 649 days since SAO launch:

Hanna tensely listened to Schmidt go over the various members to watch out for in Laughing Coffin. They had finally gotten dangerous enough for the front liners to act, though Hanna mourned how many had died simply because they couldn't be convinced to act sooner.

As she looked over the pictures, she noted the three that had been hired by Grimlock to murder Yoruko and the others. Apparently it had been PoH himself, along with Johnny Black, and someone named Red-Eyed XaXa.

When the other person leading the meeting with Schmidt, likely the DDA's assault leader given Schmidt's position, cracked a cocky joke to end off the meeting, and almost everyone laughed, she looked away with a scowl, grumbling to Kirito, "They're so stupidly overconfident. It's disgusting. If this is going to be so easy, why couldn't we have acted sooner and saved all those people."

Kirito sighed tiredly, "I don't know Hanna. I really don't"

"That's because you hardly interact with the front liners outside of Boss fights." They turned to find Asuna frowning at the overconfident floor clearers. Asuna turned her attention to them unhappily, "After all of the bosses we've faced, they're beginning to get this idea that we front liners are some sort of unstoppable force."

Hanna scowled, "This is a disaster waiting to happen."

As they made their way to Laughing Coffin's base, Schmidt and what she assumed was the DDA's assault leader stopped in front of them, and Schmidt announced, "We're almost to the Laughing Coffin HQ that was in the report. I'll go over this once more before we attack. They are red players! Once the battle starts, they will think nothing of killing us. So we can't hesitate either. If we do, they'll kill us."

The DDA assault leader took over with a cocky grin, "But we, in the lead group, have more people and higher levels than they do. They may actually surrender without fighting."

There were chuckles all around, and Hanna scowled again. Next to her Kirito sighed, and she could see both Asuna and Klein frowning. Schmidt also seemed uncomfortable, probably because of his run in with them almost three months ago.

It was, of course, at that moment that they were ambushed by their targets. Immediately chaos broke out, and Hanna ended up having to try and defend herself from two PKers at once. She tried to stay close to Kirito, but they were soon separated. A few frenzied minutes later, and one of her opponents was pulled away from her by Klein. Briefly giving him a grateful smile, she quickly subdued her remaining opponent, and he was almost immediately snatched up to be restrained. They'd made sure to bring more people than Laughing Coffin had specifically so there would be people to keep the beaten PKers from fleeing. With no opponent, she glanced around and was relieved to see that the front liners had regrouped.

Her attention was caught by screaming, and she turned to see three front liners shatter, a nearly dead PKer standing over them. There was another scream off to her left. A moment later, the PKer that had killed the three front liners took off running. Glancing towards where he was staring with the intensity of a madman, her heart lodged itself in her throat. He was charging Kirito, who was staring in almost the opposite direction in horror.

Before she even had a chance to move, Kirito whirled towards the PKer, just barely blocking his wild attack. They struggled for a minute, then Kirito managed to shove his attacker off. With a desperate cry halfway between a scream and a shout, Kirito cleaved his opponent in two from shoulder to hip.

Sorrow filled Hanna at the sight. It hadn't been likely, but she had hoped… She had hoped they could get through Aincrad without Kirito having to kill anyone. He already had such a terrible self image, to have to deal with taking someone's life on top of that….

She didn't have anymore time to think about it. Another PKer was attacking her. The battle quickly descended into absolute madness. When it was finally over, ten people on their side were dead, and more than 25 of the Laughing Coffin members had chosen to fight until death. Five of the dead PKers had been killed by her. For once in her life, Hanna cursed how thorough her training had been, and the natural fighting skill a Devil possessed.

* * *

August 23rd, 2024- 657 days since SAO launch:

Hanna sighed. She and Kirito were in bed, getting some sleep before they went to grind in the labyrinth tonight. Well, they were supposed to be sleeping, and Kirito had done exactly that rather easily. She couldn't though. She'd been having nightmares all week, ever since… Laughing Coffin.

She propped herself up on her elbow, resting her face against her hand as she silently watched her sleeping mate. She was worried about him. He didn't seem that affected by what had happened that day, she knew him though, there was no way he was ok with it. Which meant he'd pushed it away, that he wasn't dealing with it, and that was so much _worse_. Whether he thought of it consciously or not, it would eat at him the longer he he ignored it.

While she didn't want him suffer because of what he'd had to do, she really wished he wouldn't lock it up and pretend it didn't bother him. It would only make it worse it caught up to him. She couldn't, **wouldn't** force it though, that would make it worse too. She wasn't even pushing. She'd made sure he knew she was there for him though, a sentiment he'd fully returned. To be honest, she'd needed his help to fall asleep every night since, but he'd been losing so much sleep taking care of her that he was utterly exhausted. To the point it seemed to slip his mind that she hadn't been able to fall asleep without his help lately, but she didn't the heart to remind him when he'd been so tired.

He hadn't complained even once about her new reliance on him though, and for that she was grateful. She already felt so guilty for keeping him up, she was grateful he never mentioned it. Though that, of course, only made her feel even more guilty.

With a sigh she laid back down and curled up with her mate. She doubted she'd be able to fall asleep, but she could try.


	22. Reaching an Understanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wish I had a reason for why it took so long for this chapter to get out, but sadly it was mostly a matter of me telling myself almost everyday I'd get on it, only to realize at the end of the day that I had gotten to caught up in reading fanfiction to write it. Sorry guys. Anyway, Hanna really ran away from me with this chapter. This wasn't at all what I vaguely had planned for it when I started writing.

August 25th, 2024- 659 days since SAO launch:

Hanna sighed tiredly then took a sip of her tea. She and Kirito had been at Lizbeth's shop when Asuna came in and invited Lizbeth over for dinner. Then somehow, as they were talking while Lizbeth was finishing her maintenance on their weapons, she and Kirito had gotten roped into going as well. Asuna's place was a nice size, and rather cozy, if a bit impersonal for Hanna's liking. They'd had dinner, and Asuna had shown that unlike them she not only could cook but was amazing at it, to Kirito's delight. The conversation had been surprisingly lighthearted, given Asuna was involved. Then again, Hanna _had_ noticed that she hadn't been as harsh as of late.

Two hours of astonishingly pleasant conversation later, they'd noticed that Kirito had fallen asleep on the couch. Realizing how late it was, Lizbeth left for the night. Asuna had kindly allowed her and Kirito to stay, since Kirito was already passed out on her couch anyway. She wasn't quite ready to attempt falling asleep, though, and it seemed Asuna wasn't either, as she'd offered her some tea, which led her back to now. She and Asuna quietly drinking tea while Kirito slept next to her on the couch.

Her gaze turned away from her tea to her mate, and she absently reached out to brush his bangs out of his face. She was a bit startled when Asuna quietly murmured, "I really don't know how he can fall asleep so easily. Especially after-" her grip on her tea cup tightened, "...After Laughing Coffin…"

Hanna turns her gaze back to Asuna, taking in the tired look that had been in her eyes since that day, "You've been having problems sleeping as well, huh?" It was more of a statement then a question, but Asuna nodded anyway. Hanna looked back at Kirito, then sighed again, "He's completely pushed it away. He's not _dealing_ with it at all…. To be honest, I'm worried about him…. He may have pushed it out of his conscious mind, but I can guarantee you it's still eating at him, even if it's subconscious…. It _will_ catch up with him, and it'll be so much worse when it does….."

Asuna shoots a worried look at Kirito, then turns her gaze down to her tea cup with a sigh, "There's nothing to be done about it though, is there?"

Hanna shakes her head. For a few minutes, silence settles over them. Hanna's mind goes back to the last time it had just been the three of them alone. It had been when they'd seen Griselda's ghost, hadn't it? Things hadn't been so bad back then, but she supposed that was just how time worked. You never knew what turn life would take you on next.

As she thought that day over, Hanna abruptly realized something. Straightening up, she eyed Asuna thoughtfully. She hadn't realized how long she'd been staring until Asuna shifted, "Err… Yes?"

Hanna glanced away, flushing lightly in embarrassment, "... I was thinking about when we saw Griselda…."

Asuna shifted nervously, "Oh? What about it?"

Hanna absently rubbed at her lower lip as she tried to figure out how to ask, "Err… This may seem like a strange question, it may even sound like complete nonsense to you if you don't know what I'm talking about but….. Are you- That is-" _Oh_ , how was she supposed to say this? She supposed the best way would be to ask about an international affair, but the most recent one she could think of that Asuna would _definitely_ know about if her suspicion was right was World War Two. She cleared her throat, "So, this will be confusing if you don't know what I'm talking about, and it's probably a strange way to ask what I'm trying to ask even if you do, but… Have you ever heard the name 'Grindelwald'?"

Asuna jerks at that staring at her wide eyed for a minute, "You're a magical too?" Then she glances at Kirito, "Is-"

"No. At least, not yet anyway. Sorry, that was probably a really weird way to ask, but I didn't know how else…" She sighs again, "I suppose it doesn't matter. So you _are_ a magical?"

Asuna nods, "Yeah, I am." She shrugs, "And I suppose it _was_ a weird way to ask, but it works. He may have been defeated in the 1940's, but as the most dangerous international terrorist in magical history, he's not about to be forgotten anytime soon. And what exactly do you mean, Kirito's not a magical _yet_?"

Hanna sighs, "Second dangerous now, actually. I… have a twin brother. Our bond lets us communicate, despite me being stuck here. I don't know how familiar you are with the British terrorist Voldemort, but he's back. He did some… incredibly _**foul**_ black magic to make himself immortal. He's been labeled an international terrorist now, from my understanding…. As for Kirito…" She blushes and glances away, "I don't know how much you know about soulmates, but there's a portion of everyone's mind that's there from birth, it's basically where their mate's mind and your own connect. Anyone who can access their own mindscape can find it. At first it appears as a ghostly white mist, but over time it takes shape into… I don't know how to describe it, but that space _is_ their mate. It's basically the sum of that person. About 10 months ago, I was in my mindscape waiting for my brother to arrive when I came across it again. That space that was once ghostly had been filled with computers, stray books and scraps of paper were everywhere, it was dominated by the largest bed I've ever seen, and a pitch black coat was prominently displayed at the foot of the bed. It's rather obvious who my mate is, and given that I'm not actually human…"

She trails off, not really needing to add anymore. Asuna started at her in astonishment for a few minutes. Then she turns her gaze to her lap, smiling with a touch of bitterness, murmuring to herself, "I guess I really never had a chance, huh…." After a moment she shakes her head, "No, that's not the proper way to react to soulmates finding each other. It's not fair to them, and if you really care about someone, you'll let them go. Especially if they were never yours to begin with." Asuna returns her gaze to her the bitterness draining from her smile, "I'm happy for you guys. To find your soulmate… It's an immense privilege and honor that should be celebrated joyously."

Hanna flushes, "Thanks Asuna… That… That actually means a surprisingly good deal to me…." She thinks that over for a minute. Her best guess is that with Asuna acting less and less like a slave driving bipolar bitch and actually lightening up, Hanna had started to think of her as a tentative friend. Pulling herself from her thoughts, she glances at Kirito, sadness filling her as she tells Asuna, "You can't say anything to him though. With no way to prove magic and the like is real I haven't… actually told him yet."

Returning her gaze to Asuna, she's surprised to find sympathy there, "That must be hard… Knowing you found your soulmate but being unable to say anything to them…. I can't even imagine…." She shakes her head, then gives Hanna an unsure look, "I'm going to be honest, I- I like Kirito. I wasn't going to make a move on him or anything because he's with you and I'm not that type of girl. It still hurts though, to know I never had a chance to begin with. It obviously hurts you too, being unable to tell him. So… Can we- Can we just agree not to talk about it, at least… At least until I come to terms with it? I- I know that's an extremely selfish thing for me to ask, but-"

Hanna shakes her head, cutting across her, "No, it's alright." At Asuna's startled look, she smiles gently, "I know most people would probably throw a fit at that, but I know where I stand with Kirito. The only time I've ever gotten jealous was when Sachi flirted with him before we got together. People develop crushes, even when they know they shouldn't. It's just how things are. I'm not going to get angry that you like my mate, at least, not as long as you don't try anything. As long as you respect the rather obvious boundaries, I don't have a problem with you having a crush, the only problem I'd have is if you acted on it. I may know where I stand with my mate and thus not be prone to jealousy, but that doesn't mean I'd just accept someone making moves on him. As long as your decent enough not to try and make a move on someone who's _clearly_ in a relationship, I don't have a problem with it. If I did, I wouldn't like Lizbeth. She's got a crush on Kirito too."

That wasn't entirely true actually. She'd begun to question where she stood with Kirito lately…. She quickly shoved those thoughts away, and refocused as Asuna tilts her head, "Really? I hadn't noticed…." She falls silent, looking a bit troubled. Likely at the fact she hadn't noticed something like that about what Hanna was pretty sure was her best friend. After a few minutes, she shakes her head, "Well, anyway, we agreed not to talk about it so…" She trails off for a moment, then seems to recall something, "So, Voldemort's an international terrorist now? Have… Have things really gotten that bad?"

Hanna frowns, "Not exactly. From my understanding, it's starting to become rather bad over in the UK, but he hasn't… branched out, as it were, just yet. He's being called an international terrorist because of what he did to try and make himself immortal. It's going to make it a pain in the ass to get rid of him."

Asuna sighs, "That's terrible… My mom used to tell me and my brother about him you know? Even though we had nothing to do with the conflict. It was because my brother started thinking that magicals were better than non-magicals. My mom used stories of Grindelwald and that… man, if you can call him that, to teach him the consequences of holding such a belief. She set him straight eventually, but for a while she'd tell us the horror stories what those two did every day. I used to have terrible nightmares about them…. I can't begrudge her though. She was just trying to make my brother see the mistake he was beginning to make before it could ruin his life and be to late, and she told _me_ to make sure I didn't follow in my brothers footsteps. For that… _**Thing**_ to be back…" She shudders, "This is probably a terrible thing to say… but I'm glad I don't live in the UK."

Hanna tilts her head, "I don't see how that's a terrible thing to say. It's natural to be grateful to be far away from such a conflict."

Asuna frowns, "Well, it condemns those who do live there, doesn't it? Saying something like that, it implies a 'it's your problem, not mine, you get to deal with it' line of thought."

Hanna shakes her head. "Not necessarily, those who don't want to fight could leave if they wanted. I know you don't really have anything to do with the conflict, and I doubt you know anyone who lives there, but hypothetically, if people from the UK who were trying to get away from the conflict asked you for help, and you had the means to do so, would you?"

Asuna looked insulted, "Of course I would! I would never-" She suddenly seemed to realize what Hanna was trying to say, and her anger disappeared, "Oh. It's not a condemning thing to say because I'd help if I could."

Hanna nods, "Precisely Asuna. You're just a teenager, what are you supposed to do about something that's happening so far away from you? There's not much you _can_ do. Just be grateful you and those you care about are away from it. Be kind to those in need. There's nothing much you can do other than that."

Asuna stares thoughtfully into her tea, "Not necessarily. My dad's family is extremely wealthy and rather prominent in the magical world as well as the non-magical world. When we get out of here, I could try convincing my dad to set up a relief fund. Not to mention, my mom loves galas and the like. If I could convince my dad to _start_ the relief fund, it shouldn't be too much harder to convince her to throw a gala to raise funds for it."

Hanna smiles in bemusement, "The longer you talk the less sense your guilt makes." Asuna blushes. After a moment, Hanna tilts her head thoughtfully, "Do you suppose if someone from the UK, someone rather prominent in the conflict, came to talk at the gala that it would help?"

Asuna hums, "Probably." Then she sighs, "However, the British Ministry of Magic is rather notorious for being uncooperative when it comes to sending a representative for such things. Perhaps the event in question being to help the innocents in the war might change that, but I wouldn't count on it. The only other people I can think of would be Dumbledore and the Potters. Dumbledore isn't very well liked in Japan though, because the people here still feel it took him far too long to act against the threat of Grindelwald. The Potters, on the other hand, are known even here due to Mike surviving the Killing Curse, so that _might_ work, but good luck getting that to happen."

Hanna smirks, "Actually, I could, in fact get Mike to go. Rather easily in fact."

Asuna's jaw drops, "How?!"

Hanna huffs a laugh at her reaction, then grows serious, "It's a bit complicated, and I don't really want to go into all of the details anyway as they're personal. That said, the former Lily Potter is now Lily Sparda and is my mother. James Potter, the foul bastard, dosed her with a love potion when they were 16. Just before they were supposed to get married, my mom's best friend managed to temporarily free her. She couldn't leave though, Dumbledore was in on it, and he wouldn't have let her get away. Mostly because James is his most loyal pawn, and he basically bought that loyalty by helping him ensnare my mother amongst other things. He'd have lost Potter if she got away. Anyway, my mother was free, but she knew she couldn't run. She wanted to do _something_ that was her decision and her decision alone, so she purposely conceived me with a stranger in a bar. Potter, however, wasn't willing to wait until she'd had me to get his heir, which would've also tightened his hold on her via their marriage contract. He couldn't abort me magically though, my mother had taken precautions against it. He _could've_ aborted me the non-magical way, but he was far too much of a Pure Blood for it to ever occur to him, which my mother knew. He ended up using a spell that allowed my mother to conceive even though she was already pregnant, with the way the spell works, because we were conceived so close together Mike and I were born as twins. This is the part I'm going to basically skip over because a lot of personal stuff happened. When I was six though, I ended up finding my way into my dad's care, and not long after that, we found out my dad was my mom's soulmate. Finding her soulmate was one of the few ways to get out of her marriage to Potter, and due to her not being on the love potion at the time, she quickly left Potter and moved in with me and my dad's family, getting married to my dad not long after. Sadly though, Potter and Dumbledore had already begun to corrupt my brother, so she had to leave him behind, even though it broke our hearts. Recently though, my brother had his eyes opened to the kind of people Dumbledore and Potter are. He's since cut ties to them and been blood adopted by my dad, making us true twins. _Basically_ , all I'd have to do would be to inform him of your gala, should you convince your parents, and he'd be more than happy to go. I wouldn't even have to ask."

Asuna was wide eyed by the end of her explanation. For a few moments she just stared, then she released a huge breath in a rush, "That's- Wow…. That's a lot to take in..." She shakes her head, "Normally, I'd think you were lying, with such huge claims, but… You've never really been a liar, and I would know as soon as we got out anyway, so there wouldn't be a point to it….." She suddenly seemed to realize something, "Wait, hold on! Did you say _Sparda_? As in, the legendary Demon Hunters?! You're a _**Sparda**_?!"

Hanna tilts her head, amused by her reaction, "I am. Why do you think I was being vague about what my family did for a living after we saw Griselda? It was the best way I could think of to explain Demon Hunting in a non-magical way. Why, is it a problem?"

Asuna shakes her head, "No, at all! It's just… Mike Potter is your brother _and_ you're a Sparda…."

Hanna purses her lips, "It's Mike _Sparda_ now. Though he isn't here, my brother and I, along with the rest of my family for that matter, would appreciate it if you didn't associate him with _Potter_."

Asuna nods, "Right, of course you wouldn't want anything to do with him. My apologies."

Hanna shakes her head, "It's alright, I know it can take some getting used to, just try not to make that mistake. Given what Potter did to us, my family gets rather… irritated when my brother is associated with him."

Asuna sighs, "That's understandable just knowing what I know, and I get the feeling there's a lot you're not saying due to how personal it is. Anyway, we got a bit of topic. We'd have to mention the name change, but your brother attending would go a long ways, especially if he consents to making a speech about what's going on over there."

Asuna trails off, and Hanna just watches in amusement. She can almost _see_ the gears in her head turning as she makes plans. After a few minutes, Asuna refocuses on her, "I suppose with Mike being your brother, your family is going to end up being drawn into the conflict, aren't they?"

Hanna nods, "Yes. Family is everything to a Sparda. Whether it's by blood or by choice. Though our longevity probably has a great deal to do with it. That and the fact we don't really… fit in anywhere else."

Asuna tilts her head in confusion, then seems to remember something, "That's right. Earlier you said you weren't human, didn't you?" Hanna nods, but Asuna just seems to grow confused, "I could understand not fitting in well with humans, but surely your own species-"

She cuts of as Hanna shakes her head, "We… We're basically the last, depending on how you look at it….." Seeing Asuna only grow more confused, she sighs, "Tell me, have you ever heard of the Nephilim?"

Asuna's eyes widen indicating she had, "But- But they died out thousands of years ago! They were slaughtered by the Demons!"

Hanna nods, "Yes, the original Nephilim were eradicated. However, as a species that is simply a natural hybrid between Demons and Angels, it's impossible for them to truly be gone unless Angels and/or Demons go extinct as well. My grandfather Sparda, from which we got our last name, was the last of his kind. He is a Devil, a species of demon Demon. When the previous king of hell died, fighting began to break out as many tried to take his place. Near the end of this conflict, only two Demons were vying for power, Malphas a young but powerful Demon, and Mundus the Demon who eventually won and became king. My kind, the Devils are natural fighters, a well trained Devil will be an elite even amongst elites, because of that they were often the personal guards of the king, and held a considerable sway over who would become the next king when the previous dies. The problem was, the Devil's sided with Malphas and were vehemently opposed to Mundus, whereas the majority of hell sided with Mundus. Eventually, Malphas was murdered and Mundus became king, but though they no longer actively fought him still the Devils refused to swear allegiance to him. At that point, they just wanted to be left alone. That put Mundus in a delicate position though, so he couldn't. Though now technically the king, his rule would _remain_ opposed so long as the Devil's refused to recognize him as king. He only really had three options. Get their support, prove his power to the Demons of hell by forcing the Devils into submission, or prove that the Devils were too weak for their opinions to matter by wiping them out. After many unsuccessful attempts to gain their support, Mundus laid siege to the Bloody Palace. Nowadays it's falling apart and has been taken over by all types of Demons, but it used to be a near impenetrable fortress that the Devils called home. Despite the battle prowess of the Devils, and how fortified our home was, we were never numerous, only numbering a little over five thousand when Mundus attacked. Though superior in combat to nearly every Demon Mundus had at his disposal, against the billions of Demons under his command, my people fell, though they lasted more than seven hundred years. Eventually though, Mundus forced his way past the final line of defence the Bloody Palace had and into its innermost depths that the last of my people had fled to. My grandfather was only a child at the time, so his mother, a half succubus by the name of Syriel, hid him just before Mundus and his men broke through. He listened as the last of our kind, those few who weren't even _fighters_ were slaughtered, watched from his hiding place as his mother was _murdered_. They found him though, but before the other Demons could kill him, Mundus intervened. He thought my grandfather was too young to really understand what had happened, and so thought he could mold him to follow Mundus without question. The last Devil as his most loyal servant. He took my grandfather as a trophy to prove his superiority, and raised him to be his enforcer. To bad for him, he was wrong. My grandfather _did_ understand everything that happened that day. He loathed Mundus, and came to hate Demon kind itself."

She paused to let Asuna take that in, as with everything that Hanna had revealed over the course of the night she was beginning to look dazed. Not that Hanna could blame her. Seeing her lift her empty cup and absently try to take a drink, Hanna stood with a quiet sigh, "I'm not finished explaining just yet, but given how much I've revealed to you tonight, you're looking understandably dazed. I'll just go make some more tea while you let what I've explained about my grandfather sink in. You seem like you could do with another cup."

Asuna stared at her in confusion for a few moments as though she couldn't understand why Hanna wasn't continuing her tale, then suddenly seemed to realize what she said and glanced down at her cup and the pitcher, only just now seeming to realize they were empty, "Uh… Right! Thank you. The, uh, the stuff for the tea is on the top shelf in the middle cupboard to the left of the oven…."

Hanna nods, and collects the pitcher, taking it into the kitchen. Thankfully, tea was one of the few things you could make without risk of failing without the cooking skill. In no time at all, she'd finished making the tea and brought it back, refilling their cups in short order. Asuna absently accepted her cup back, barely waiting for her to sit back down before she leaned forward eagerly, "So what happened then?"

Hanna sighs, "My grandfather was in a very _dark_ place, mentally speaking. The only thing he wanted was vengeance for his people, his family. You must realize, this took place a **very** long time ago. Six thousand years ago in fact, right around the time when civilizations began to develop in the Mesopotamia or Fertile crescent region in fact. Back when both Demons and Angels roamed the land freely. As such, when Mundus eventually began to trust him to come to earth, it was for the collection of souls or to fight Angels. Though initially wrapped up in thoughts of nothing but his own vengeance, over time he began to take notice of what was going on around him, of the suffering of humans at the hands of Demons, so similar to his own, yet so different as well. Eventually he began to feel empathy for the humans, and a strange kinship towards the Angels who despised the Demons and Mundus as he did. He began to do what he could to assist both the humans and Angels without Mundus catching on. It started out small, helping a human or two escape, purposely neglecting to mention there were Angels still alive after battles. In such battles against the Angels, he would often seek out the strongest opponent on the battlefield, purely so they could 'occupy' him, and thus he wouldn't be able to do as much damage. Eventually during a major battle, through this practice of seeking out the strong, he found himself fighting a young Seraphim by the name of Eva. She was fierce and beautiful. To my grandfather's surprise, by the end of the battle when the Demons were forced to retreat, she was still alive. Never before had one of his opponents managed to survive the entire battle, much less prove themselves his equal at she had. From then on, he purposely sought her out on the battlefield, as he knew she could not only occupy his time, but walk away alive from the conflict. They met and battled to a draw five more times before they ran into each other under more peaceful circumstances. Demons don't _need_ to devour souls, but doing so makes them stronger, and humans were their favorite meal, for multiple reasons, though we won't get into that at the moment. It was because of this though, that it was rather common for humans to be captured, almost exclusively for the purpose of being eaten, though occasionally Demons used them for… Other sources of entertainment. My grandfather used this to his advantage often. The first time he and Eva met outside of battle, Sparda was smuggling a pregnant woman to safety, under the guise of taking her away for… well, to be blunt, under the guise of using her for sexual entrainment. He'd just gotten her close enough to Angel territory to let her flee the rest of the way on her own and told her to do just that when Eva approached. Unbeknownst to him, she'd been following them for a while. She'd spotted him escorting a human towards their territory, and grown curious as to what he was doing. She was baffled by why a Devil, Mundus' top enforcer no less, and someone who fought her so viciously over the control of Earth, would be helping a human. Eventually he told her a bit about himself, and confessed as to why he sought her out in battle. Eva was intrigued, and asked to meet him again, then escorted the woman to safety."

She paused again to let Asuna absorb the influx of information. Absently taking a sip of her tea as Asuna thought that over. A few moments later, Asuna tilted her head at her, "So, did they meet again as she asked?"

Hanna nods, "They did. Many times in fact. At first they just spoke of their pasts, slowly getting to know one another, but once my grandfather trusted Eva, he began to inform her of as many of Mundus' plans as he could without giving away that it was him revealing them. Over time, he and Eva began to fall in love. Eventually no longer able to put up with the Demons, and promised sanctuary by the Angels, he fled with her, but not before leaving the Demons with one final act of betrayal. Over the time that they'd been in contact, he and the Angels had come up with a way to seal hell so that Demons could no longer cross freely into earth. After that, it was merely a matter of wiping out the great Demons that had gotten stuck here when they erected the seal, and making sure to deal with the minor Demons that could cross the seal much easier. Eventually my grandfather married Eva, my grandmother, and a few thousand years later they had my dad and uncle, the first Nephilim in over five thousand years. They in turn had me, my cousin, and eventually through the blood adoption, my brother. Seeing as we were originally on this topic due to my heritage, to sum it up though there are other Seraphim alive, we're the last Devils and Nephilim. Well, I suppose technically we're part Succubus/Incubus, but we don't have any of their abilities. Devils were large and admittedly not that good looking. The only thing we get from that heritage is _not_ looking like a pure Devil, and all of my family being considered rather short by Devil standards. Hell, I'd practically be a midget by their standards. But anyway, that's not the point."

Asuna smiles lightly at her little tirade at the end, then frowns, "Being the last of your kind…. That's terrible… Especially since I'm sure you've got enormous targets on your backs for not only being the last traitorous Devils, but also for being Nephilim."

Hanna sighs, "You have no idea."

Asuna shakes her head, "Well, at least with Hell sealed you don't have to worry about being overrun and you said that Devils have outstanding natural fighting ability, so you've got that too."

Hanna gives her a bitter smile, "That is true. Though I can't help but feel that that natural fighting ability is more of a curse than a blessing right now…"

Asuna gives her a baffled look, "How so?'

Hanna sighs, "When we fought Laughing Coffin, it was that very ability that allowed me to subdue more of them quicker, and thus, run into more of them unwilling to surrender faster…"

Understanding and sympathy washes over Asuna's face, "Oh…"

Hanna nods, there's a beat of silence, then she adds, "Well, at least I'm not nearly as good as the rest of my family. Actually I'm not only the weakest fighter in my family, barring my brother since he's rather new to all this, but I've also got the weakest natural fighting ability. I'm more of a scholar, and prefer my magical studies to be honest."

She receives a look of curiosity at that, "Oh? What do you study?"

Hanna smiles at her, "Well, my goal is to be a spell, ritual, and ward crafter. So I've studied quite a few things extensively. Spell crafting, Warding, and Magical Theory obviously, though you also need to study Arithmancy and Runes. I was doing fantastically well in my Magical Theory and Spell Crafting classes, decent in Arithmancy and Runes, and ok in Warding, at least by my standards. Actually being proficient in various languages isn't technically a necessity, but it helps as well, so I'm exceedingly grateful that languages are actually what I'm best at. What about you, what are you studying for, or were studying for I guess. Man, it's gonna be hell to get caught up in my classes..."

Asuna snorts, "Tell me about it. Especially since we've gotta get caught up on both magical _and_ non-magical classes." Then she turns her gaze to her cup with a sigh, "My mother wants me to work in my father's business."

Hanna raises an eyebrow, "I didn't ask what your mother wants you to do. I asked what _you_ want to do."

Asuna smiles at her, "I want to be a Healer. I have since I was a kid, ever since my mom told us those horror stories about Grindelwald and Voldemort actually." Then her smile turns proud, "In fact, since none of my magical classes would help me in my dad's business my mother never interfered with my class choices. I was already in the Advanced Healing class, even though I was only fourteen. Of course, the schools Healing class is just meant to be a precursor to an actual Healer's apprenticeship, but passing the advanced class can cut an apprenticeship in half, from six years to three, depending on how well you do. I was getting top marks in both Advanced Healing and Potions."

Hanna smiles warmly, "You certainly seem passionate about it." Asuna nods with a smile, and there's a beat of comfortable silence before Hanna realizes something, and sadness washes over her, "You shouldn't have been there." Asuna gives her a confused look, so she elaborates, "At the fight against Laughing Coffin. You shouldn't have been there. You may be a good fighter, but a Healer isn't meant to take a life…." She looks away with a sigh, "At least when it comes to me, battle is what I was _born_ for, even if it's not my chosen proficiency, it's still what I'm meant to do….."

And _oh_ , how that one little fact had eaten at her since that day. How it had torn at her to know that she'd done exactly what a Devil was born to do. She used to be proud of her heritage, now…. Now her pride wavered, doubt and self disgust beginning to creep in. Most terrifying of all, she'd begun to question her relationship with Kirito. Ever since the night before last when Kirito had fallen asleep before helping her achieve the same. That day as she lay awake thinking that terrible day over, she began to question if a monster such as herself _deserved_ Kirito. There were few things that could cause someone to reject their soulmate, but it _could_ happen, and honestly, at this point she wouldn't blame Kirito if he did. Especially since accepting her would make him like her. Honestly, no decent person would **want** that...

She was suddenly yanked from her thoughts by Asuna sighing, "Maybe. Maybe I didn't belong in that battle, maybe you did. It doesn't matter though. What _**doesn't**_ belong is those ideas, at least not in the reality in which we live in now. Such ideas only hinder us here. I still think surviving and moving forward are the two most important things we need to do, even if I'll now acknowledge that focusing entirely on doing that only serves to make us miserable, I still stand by the fact we need to stay focused."

Hanna turns her gaze to Kirito and hums thoughtfully, "Perhaps we both suffer from focus issues, but whereas _you_ were too focused on progress, perhaps _**I**_ am too focused on personal pursuits. Perhaps, I grew to focused on my mate…"

She wouldn't say it, but perhaps she needed to stop focusing entirely on Kirito. Maybe then it wouldn't hurt so much when he inevitably decided he didn't want to be with the demonic monster, didn't want to **be** a demon, even if only partially. Asuna pins her with a calculating look. Her tone had been influenced by the depressing thoughts of losing her mate, and Asuna clearly picked up on it, even though couldn't seem to figure out what they were from.

Asuna eyed her thoughtfully, then her face softened, "Just focus on the here and now, and take it an hour at a time." Her gaze shifted to Kirito, "And trust in your mate. Kirito will keep you on track."

Hanna nods, though she can't help but wonder how much longer she'll have her mate for. Asuna suddenly put her teacup on the tray she'd originally used to bring it all out, "Anyway, we should probably try to get some sleep." Hanna nods quietly, and hands Asuna her own cup. Putting it next to the other cup, she picked up the tray and began to walk to the kitchen, then hesitated, before halfway turning towards her, "Thank you… For trusting me with all that."

Hanna watches her for a moment, then looks away, "While my family has never exactly advertised all of that, we've also never really tried to hide it either."

Asuna nods, "Still, I'm glad you told me all of that, somehow…. Somehow it puts Aincrad in perspective. Yes, it's not a great place, yes, we're separated from our loved ones, and yes we… We were forced to do something terrible when we fought Laughing Coffin, but…. It could be lot worse."

Hanna glances at her again, "... Yes. I suppose it can."

Asuna nods lightly, then leaves. She turns her gaze back to her mate. _Trust in her mate_ , _it could be a lot worse_ …. Hopefully, she could trust her mate, trust in him not to give her the worst case scenario and leave.

* * *

September 1st, 2024- 666 days since SAO launch:

Mike smiled faintly as Nero and his dad took in the Hogwarts Express with clear interest. His mom shared a grin with him, then he turned around and noticed that almost a third of the platform were staring at them. At first he figured it was because of his dad and Nero, after all they _were_ 6'4" and 6' respectively, had silver hair, didn't wear anything remotely similar to British magical style of clothing, and to anyone who know even a bit about their family, they were _clearly_ Sparda's. Then he realized that while they _were_ getting stared at, the majority of the looks were directed at him. It took him a couple moments before he understood why, and immediately irritation flooded him.

The 'vision' he'd gotten at the end of last school year had turned out to be a trap. By the time all was said and done the next day, it was out in the open that Voldemort was back. The Ministry was no longer denying it. They were officially at war with Voldemort once again. And now, he was apparently 'The Chosen One', according to just about _everybody_. It pissed him off so much. He was a sixteen year old kid, what the _hell_ was he supposed to do about a roughly seventy year old semi-immortal wizard who had been studying magic **obsessively** for the minority of his life. Yes, it was _was_ true he was prophesied to defeat him, but **none** of these people knew that. Which meant they had no reason for their belief that he would be the one to deal with Voldemort.

He turns to his family with an irritated sigh, "I'm going to go find a seat before anyone decides they need to talk to me."

Dante eyes the crowd with a frown, "Can't blame you there, kiddo." Then he turns his gaze back to Mike and grins, "We'll see you later, alright? Try not to get up to too much trouble."

Mike nods, "I'll certainly try my best." Then he hugs them one by one. Pulling away he grabs his trunk, "I know it won't be that long til I see you, since I've gotta come back for Marzanna, but I'll miss you."

Lily presses a kiss to his forehead, "We'll miss you too, sweetheart." Then she straightens, turns him around, and lightly begins pushing him towards the train, murmuring lowly so only their enhanced hearing will be able to pick it up, "Now I suggest you get going. A few of those girls are beginning to look like they'd like to come over, and you wouldn't want to give your dear Hermione the wrong idea, now would you?"

He flushes, but shakes his head, and with one last wave, quickly makes his way towards the train. Quickly stepping on the train, and closing the door to ensure no one would follow him through that particular door on the train, he pauses. Towards the back was usually the better bet towards being left alone, but everyone _knew_ that, so it would be the first place anyone with half a brain would look.

Before he can reach a decision, a familiar voice calls out to him, "Hi Mike!"

He turns with a grin, spotting Neville immediately, though his eyes widen when he notices Luna with him then swallows thickly in nervousness. Much as he'd grown to like Luna since the Tournament had opened his eyes, he'd still foolishly thought she was simply crazy. His grandmother had gone to great lengths to rectify that notion ever since she heard of Luna and realize what she was. Despite the onlookers from other compartments, he quickly bows to her, "My Lady, I wish to offer my sincerest apologies for the ignorant and rude way I have treated you in years past."

Luna's far away dreamy expression suddenly sharpens, and she studies his still bowed form, both of them ignoring the confused murmuring from the other students. After a few moments of study, she nods, "I accept your apology."

At that, he straightens, giving her a grateful nod before finally turning his attention to the clearly confused Neville, "Well shall we find a compartment? Preferably one where I won't constantly be stared at."

Neville nods hesitantly, still glancing between him and Luna in confusion. He'd explain what just happened to him later, Neville deserved to know what was going on at least. Not for the first time, he regretted not trying to be the shy by kind boy's friend sooner. He was a much better friend than Ronald ever was, which was terrible considering they weren't even a quarter as close as he and Ronald supposedly were.

Luna abruptly spoke up, "Then let's go this way."

With that, she began to lead them towards the front of the train, the very front, in fact, which confused Mike, as surely all off these compartments would be full. Just as they reached the first car, they caught the tail end of a couple clearly arguing, the girl whirled around, collecting her trunk from a compartment, then stormed off. The boy floundered for a moment, then quickly grabbed his own trunk before chasing after her. Once the two had passed, Luna calmly made her way towards their now empty compartment.

Once inside they quickly stowed their trunks away, then Neville hesitantly spoke up, "Err, won't people find us here rather easily?"

Luna hummed, "They shouldn't. Mike is known to sit closer to the back of the train, so they should be to busy looking there. Besides, here Mike, and you for that matter, won't have to go as far once you get your invitations."

He only seemed to grow more confused, "Err, what invitations?"

Luna simply hummed, "You'll know soon enough."

Neville gave him a confused look, as though hoping he could explain. Which he could, kinda, but he wasn't sure if Luna would have a problem with it. Glancing at her, she shrugged before he could even say a word, so he turned to his other friend, "Neville, Luna's a Seer."

Neville tilted his head, then glanced at Luna before hesitantly saying, "Err, but, I thought that was just a rumor last year, and it was debunked because she doesn't seem able to actually predict the future, just anticipate what would happen soon."

Mike shakes his head, "A Seer isn't just someone who can see into the distant future, it's anyone who can _see_ time itself. Seers are rare enough as is, but Luna is the most rare type of Seer. The farthest into the future a Seer like Luna has ever been recorded to See is only an hour and most can only see half that, but they can See what's happening _now_ almost anywhere in the world, though from my understanding they have little control over it even if their powers are **far** more consistent than that of conventional Seers. All that being said, the most impressive part about Seers like Luna, is that even an average one, if there is such a thing for people like that, can see _hundreds_ of years into the past. The more powerful they are, the farther back they can See. Luna _is_ a bit strange, I'll give you that, but can you blame her when her mind is constantly Seeing the distant past, things going on in entirely different countries, or even other _planes of existence_?"

Movement out the window makes Mike realize that at some point during his explication, the train began to move, then he refocuses on Neville. Neville's eyes had slowly gone wide as Mike talked, and when he was done he turned with incredulous gaze to Luna, who smiled serenely at him. Abruptly he stood and bowed to her, just as Mike head done previously, "Forgive me, My Lady. I had no idea, but that's no excuse for the fact I have not been treating you with the respect you deserve."

Luna tilts her head, "You have never acted rudely towards me. At least, not on purpose."

With his keen hearing, he picks up on it when Neville swallows thickly, "Perhaps not, My Lady, but my grandmother has always had a healthy respect for Seers, and she made sure I shared that respect. The distaste most think she has is merely at the many frauds, so if she knew how I'd been treating a true Seer… I'm sure she would be ashamed of me."

Luna reaches out and gently lifts his face so he's looking at her, "Perhaps. Perhaps not. If it will make you feel better, I will accept you apology, though I don't think it necessary." She suddenly smiles lightly, "That said, while I appreciate Mike and your own respect, I'd rather just continue being your friend, so no more if this 'My Lady' stuff, ok?"

Neville hesitates a moment, then straightens with a smile, "Of course, Luna."

Her smile widens, and Neville sits back down. He'd barely resettled before the door opens to allow a slightly confused Hermione in. Upon spotting them, she gives Luna a bemused smile, then dragged her trunk in and closed the door, "When you told me on the platform that I could find you guys at the front of the train, I thought you were kidding. Everyone knows Mike prefers the back of the train."

Neville suddenly dives under one of the seats, with a cry of, "No! Trevor, get back here!"

Idly stepping around Neville, Mike helps Hermione store her trunk away with a huff of irritation, "Precisely. I don't want to get stared at, which almost _everyone_ has been doing since I arrived at the platform."

Hermione rolls her eyes as they take their seats, "I'd believe it, with all this 'Chosen One' nonsense the Daily Prophet has been printing. Apparently, it really is too much to ask the average Witch or Wizard to have just a _bit_ of common sense." Then she suddenly flushes, "Um, no offence Mike, I know you've been getting a lot stronger with the training you've been going through, but I mean, he's got so much more experience, and-"

Mike shakes his head with a bemused smile, "No, it's alright Hermione. It _is_ completely ridiculous, especially since most of those people don't _know_ that. They're just heaping everything on me without even a _thought_ about-"

He's suddenly cut off by giggling from the door of their compartment, and female voices arguing lightly, "You ask him!"

"No, you!"

"I'll do it!"

At that final proclamation, the door is opened by a bold fourth year with large dark eyes, a prominent chin, and long dark hair. She smiles sweetly at him, loudly and confidently saying, "Hi Mike! I'm Romilda, Romilda Vane. Why don't you join us in our compartment?" Then she indicated Neville's butt sticking out from under the seat as he tried to catch Trevor, and Luna who at some point had put on strange glasses that made her look like some sort of demented multicolored owl, and added in a stage whisper, "You don't have to sit with them,"

He bristles, giving her a light glare as he coldly informed her, "They're friends of mine."

Clearly surprised, she shifted unsurely, "Oh. Okay. Well, err, see you around then."

With that she quickly closed the door. Mike shakes his head with an irritated scowl. Hearing Neville cry out, he glanced down to see Trevor coming out from under the seat and trying to hop to the other one. Quickly reaching down, he caught him before returning him to Neville when he popped back up. He gives Mike a quick smile in thanks, then retakes his seat. Mike sighs, "Honestly, that girl was so rude."

Luna shrugs bluntly informing him, "People expect you to have cooler friends than us."

Mike scowls, "What's wrong with you guys? Your way cooler than they are."

Luna smiles at him, "That's sweet of you to say, but let's be honest, to them you're hanging out with the crazy chick, the shy loser who's always forgetting things and losing his toad, and a bossy bookworm."

Mike scowl deepens, "If that's what they see, they're clearly blind. Obviously, I'm hanging out with someone far wiser than her years, one of the most loyal and kind people I know, and one of the most intelligent geniuses in recent years. Really, if anything, _**I'm**_ the loser of the group."

Luna giggles, teasingly saying, "So glad you finally realized it. We were all too nice to say anything."

Neville ducks his head with a grin, and Hermione laughs. He rolls his eyes, "Yes, yes. Laugh at the loser. I guess we get to see you three's true colors now, huh? It-"

He was interrupted yet again by the door being opened by a younger girl, though this time it was a third year, she glanced around the compartment hesitantly, then held out two small scrolls of parchment tied off with violet ribbons, "I- I'm supposed to deliver these to Neville Longbottom and Mike P-Pot- Uhh, that is, Mike Sparda…"

Perplexed, he and Neville shared a glance, then hesitantly accepted the scrolls. Before they could thank her, or say anything for that matter, she quickly left. Or tried to anyway. She was so busy staring at Mike that she ran right into the door frame. Turning bright red in embarrassment, she whirled around and ran out.

Mike sighs with a shake of his head, then opens the scroll. Inside was an invitation, likely the very one Luna had mentioned earlier. It read:

" _Dear Mike,_

_I would be delighted if you would join me for an early lunch in compartment C._  
Sincerely,  
Professor H. E. F. Slughorn"

Mike tilted his head, "Anyone know who Slughorn is?"

Hermione leans over, and quickly read the note, "He's likely Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn. One of the best Potion Masters of the Twentieth and Twenty-First century. He was the Potions teacher and Head of Slytherin before Professor Snape."

Neville and he both turn to Hermione and stare at her. After a moment of staring back at them, she blushes, "...What?"

Mike shakes his head, "How do you even _know_ that?"

Hermione huffs, "Hogwarts a History goes over a lot of things, ok? That includes some of its more recent history, including a bit about the past few teachers for each post."

Mike shakes his head, "Well… Anyway! It would be rude to turn an invitation from a teacher down, and I'm not particularly interested in getting on his bad side before we even get to Hogwarts. Shall we Neville?"

He nods hesitantly, so they quickly leave the compartment, and headed up to compartment C. Luna's choice of seating proved to be a blessing, as with their destination only a few compartments down, he only got stared at by a handful of people. Entering the compartment, he quickly took in those inside, Slughorn was immediately noticeable as the only adult. He was rather old, more than a bit fat, and bald, between his girth and the velvet waistcoat, it was rather clear he was used to a lavish lifestyle.

It was also clear, that he and Neville weren't his only invitees, though the enthusiastic way he greeted Mike made it obvious he was his most eagerly anticipated, "Mike m'boy! And you must be Neville! Come in, come in! Take a seat! I've been wanting to meet you for quite a while now. How's your mother doing, I haven't heard from her in years."

Mike tilted his head, "You knew my mother?"

Slughorn's smile dimmed a tiny bit, "Ah, she's never mentioned me? That's… A shame. She was one of my favorite students ever."

Mike tilted his head, slowly telling him, "Well, to be fair, a lot happened to my mother here, more bad than good sadly. From my understanding, she was quite glad to move out of the country. So she never really says much about her past here anyway…"

It wasn't _entirely_ true. She spoke rather freely most of the time, it was just certain subjects she was sensitive about. However, until he'd spoken to his mother about Slughorn, it was best to give him a neutral response. Not that he seemed to take it that way, he perked up immediately, nodding in an understanding matter, "Ah yes, of course, she lost her parents and had a falling out with her sister towards the tail end of her time at Hogwarts, if I remember correctly. How insensitive of me to forget, my sincerest apologies." Suddenly he clapped loudly, "Well, anyway! Do all of you know each other?" Not waiting for a response, he began to introduce the students in the compartment to him and Neville, "Blaise Zabini is in your year, of course —" Zabini made no sign of recognition or greeting, so they ignored him in return, "This is Cormac McLaggen, perhaps you've come across each other? No?" A large blond boy raised his hand in greeting, so they nodded back to him, "-and this is Marcus Belby, I don't know whether you're familiar with each other?" Belby, who was thin and nervous-looking, gave a strained smile. "-and this charming young lady tells me she knows you!"

The charming young lady turned out to be none other than Ginny, who grimaced at them behind Slughorn's back as he finished his introductions. He smiled at all of them, "Well now, this is most pleasant. A chance to get to know you all a little better. Here, take a napkin. I've packed my own lunch, the trolley, as I remember it, is heavy on licorice wands, and a poor old man's digestive system isn't quite up to such things. . . . Pheasant, Belby?"

Belby started and accepted what looked like half a cold pheasant. Slughorn turned to Mike and Neville as he absently passed around a basket of rolls, "I was just telling young Marcus here that I had the pleasure of teaching his Uncle Damocles. Outstanding wizard, out-standing, and his Order of Merlin most well-deserved. Do you see much of your uncle, Marcus?"

In his haste to answer Slughorn, Belby, having just taken a large mouthful of pheasant, swallowed a bit too quickly, and began to choke. Slughorn, apparently used to such things, calmly pointed his wand at Belby, "Anapneo."

Whatever the spell was, it seemed to clear Belby's airway instantly, and once he'd caught his breath he hesitantly informed the Professor, "Not- Not much of him, no."

Slughorn gave Belby a questioning look at that, "Well, of course, I daresay he's busy. I doubt he invented the Wolfsbane Potion without considerable hard work!"

Belby seemed afraid to take another bite of pheasant until he was certain Slughorn was finished with him, "I suppose…. Err, he and my dad don't get on very well, you see, so I don't really know much about..."

He trailed off as Slughorn seemed to lose all interest in him, and turned to McLaggen, "Now, you, Cormac! I happen to know you see a lot of your Uncle Tiberius-"

Mike tuned him out at that point, having finally realized what was going on. Except for Ginny, everyone Slughorn invited was connected to someone well-known or influential. They ended up spending the majority of the train ride with Slughorn, as he spoke about the many famous Witches and Wizards he taught, often claiming to be rather close to them still.

Hours later as the sky began to turn red with Sunset, Mike was itching to leave already, but hadn't so far found a polite reason to do so. Just as he was contemplating abandoning his good manners and leaving, Slughorn glanced out the window and finally noticed that it was twilight, "Good gracious, it's getting dark already! I didn't notice that they'd lit the lamps! You'd better go and change into your robes, all of you. McLaggen, you must drop by and borrow that book on nogtails. Mike, Blaise- any time you're passing. Same goes for you, Miss Weasley!" He winked at Ginny, "Well, off you go, off you go!"

Mike left with a sigh of relief and a vow to try and avoid Slughorn's little get togethers from now on, as he'd made it rather clear there would be more. Perhaps his mother had some advice for dealing with the man. He'd have to write her as soon as possible.


	23. The Story of The Ragout Rabbit and The Gleam Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys, slight confession to make, I went kinda write crazy when I was writing last chapter, and got this chapter done the same day the previous chapter was uploaded, but wanted to wait a bit before uploading it. I'm was already working almost immediately on chapter 24, but then I got pretty sick. So now I feel like crap and really don't feel like writing right now. I'll get the next chapter out as soon as I can, so please be patient. Right now I can barely breath through my nose and have a headache, not to mention how my body constantly aches and the pressure in my ears. I just can't focus on the fic at the moment, sorry. The only reason your getting this chapter now is because I promised myself I'd upload it for you guys a week after the last one came out. Anyway, we are closing in on the end of Aincrad. Which is both sad and great. Despite the twisted circumstances behind it, I really like Aincrad, so I'm sad to see it go. On the other hand, I've got a good amount of things planned that can't happen until Aincrad is defeated, so it's exciting to be moving on.

September 2nd, 2024- 667 days since SAO launch:

Lily stares at the letter Mike had sent her in amusement. She remembered Slughorn of course, despite what Mike thought, they'd gotten along extremely well. As much as Lily hated the posturing of the Slugclub, she wasn't stupid. For all her talent in Potions and Charms, she was still a Muggle-born living in the UK. Unless she invented the next Wolfsbane Potion or Fidelius Charm, she knew she'd get nowhere, and it was difficult to bring about the next big Charm or Potions invention when you were broke and unemployed. Basically, she knew she was screwed unless she had someone willing to open doors for her. Someone like Slughorn. Slughorn usually attempted to keep the knowledge that the reason for the Slugclub was so he could become familiar with the most promising students in each year, but there had always been something of mutual understanding between the two of them. He knew she disliked his over the top parties and the posturing, but also that she needed him to open doors for her.

She could understand Mike's distaste for his little get together on the train, but while Mike certainly didn't _need_ Slughorn to open doors for him, there was no reason to distance himself from Slughorn either. Perhaps though, it was about time she got back in contact with her favorite teacher, if for nothing else to warn him that her son was very much like her. Besides, he'd been her favorite teacher when she attended Hogwarts. The biggest reason they'd fallen out of contact had been because of Potter, he wouldn't let her interact with the man except as was necessary for classes. Likely because Slughorn would've recognized the effects of a love potion almost immediately.

Nodding decisively, she set off in search of parchment to write letters to her son and favorite teacher.

* * *

October 17th, 2024- 712 days since SAO launch:

Hanna shakes her head in mild amusement at Kirito's pouting. They were making their way to Agil's shop to sell an incredibly rare item, they had acquired called «Ragout Rabbit Meat». It was an S-Class cooking ingredient, and like all high class cooking ingredients was said to make incredibly delicious food. Kirito of course, wanted to eat it, but they didn't have the cooking skill, much less the level in said skill to even hope to cook it successfully. This obviously meant that Kirito was pouting, seeing as he was being 'cheated' out a delicious meal. She almost wished she could find someone with a high enough cooking skill, if only to get him to stop pouting. It was pitiful, and far more adorable than it had any right to be.

Entering Agil's shop, she called out a greeting to him, "Hey Agil! We've got something pretty special today."

Agil tilts his head in curiosity as Kirito slumps into himself at the announcement, "Kirito doesn't seem to want to sell it... " Then suddenly he leans forward with a concerned expression, "You guys aren't fighting over what to do with drops, are you? That can do some pretty serious damage to a relationship really quickly."

Kirito leans against the counter with a shake of his head, "No. We can't do anything with it _but_ sell it. Doesn't mean I've gotta like it though…"

Agil turns confused, "Well, I'm glad then, but what exactly are you selling."

Kirito sighs and opens his menu. Going over to view the item, he makes his menu viewable, then pushes it to Agil without a word. Agil looks over the menu now in front of him. It's easy to tell when he realizes what he's looking at, as his jaw drops and he raises a shaking hand to point at the item in question, "S-Seriously? This- This is an S-Class item! I've never seen one before…" Straightening up from where he'd bent over to get a better look at the menu, he turns his gaze to her mate, "Hey, Kirito. You guys aren't anywhere near hurting from money, right? Wouldn't you rather eat this yourself than sell it?"

Kirito closes his eyes with a down-hearted sigh, "I'd love to eat it. I'll probably never get one again."

Agil put his hands on the counter, leaning towards him slightly, "Then-"

Kirito finally reopens his eyes, giving Agil a depressed look, "But who has a high enough cooking skill to prepare this?"

Agil sighs in realization and crosses his arms, "If we tried, we'd just burn it…"

Kirito gives a another depressed sigh. At that moment though, Hanna noticed Asuna had come in. She wasn't particularly set on eating it, but her mate was being far too pitifully adorable for her to handle, so she quickly turned to the newcomer, grabbing her shoulders with a wide hopeful smile, '"Asuna! My bestest most outstanding and amazing friend! How _wonderful_ it is to see you!"

Agil and Kirito jumped at her outburst, and turned to her in confusion. Asuna however, gives her an amused look, "Mhm. What do you want?"

Out of the corner of her eye she sees Agil lean over to Kirito to stage whisper, "I know they've been getting along better, but when are they so…"

Kirito shakes his head, murmuring back, "I don't get it either. We ended up going to Asuna's house for dinner almost two months ago. I feel asleep on the couch, and by the time I woke up they were all…" He gestures vaguely at the two of them, "...Buddy-Buddy… It's really confusing to be honest, given that they went from seemingly hating each other just five months ago to… Whatever this is."

Hanna rolls her eyes, and ignoring the boys gives Asuna another grin, "So! Out of curiosity, what level is your cooking skill?"

The boys, having finally caught on, perked up, and Asuna gives her a suspicious look, "I maxed it out just last week. Why?"

Kirito and Agil let out startled exclamations at that announcement, but she ignored them. Without hesitation, she opens her menu and shows Asuna the item. Asuna leans forward with a hum of curiosity, then let's out aloud gasp, pointing at the item, she stuttered, "T-This is a Ragout Rabbit!"

Hanna nodded nods with a grin, "Exactly! Me and Kirito don't even _have_ the cooking skill, but you've got yours maxed out. If you make it into a stew or something, there should be more than enough to share, right?"

Asuna grabs onto her cloak with an intense look, "You've got yourself a deal, as long as I get a third of it!"

Hanna shakes her head, "A fourth." As Asuna angrily opens her mouth, she holds up a hand to stall her protests, "Agil has been really good to Kirito and I. I'd feel bad if we didn't invite him."

Asuna turns her head to the side in brief contemplation, then nods firmly, "I'll need to make more sides than I usually would if four people are eating, but fine. I'll accept that."

Kirito grabs Asuna and Hanna's hands, and begins dragging them out excitedly, "Then what are we waiting for! We have Ragout Rabbit Stew to eat!" Turning his head slightly, he calls out, "Come on Agil! Hurry it up! Hanna was nice enough to invite you, but if you take too long you lose your portion!"

Agil hurriedly opens a menu as he rushes around the counter, "G-Give me a minute, ok?! I've gotta close up the shop!"

Right outside of the shop, Asuna pulls her arm out of Kirito's grip with an amused smile, "There's not a huge rush. I still have to cook the food you know?"

Agil catches up just as Kirito nods, "I know! That's _why_ we're rushing! So you can finish cooking it sooner!"

Asuna sighs, "Calm down already." Then she shakes her head, "Anyway, if you guys don't even have the cooking skill, I doubt you'll have the cookware or ingredients I'll need, so we'll have to go to my place." She turned, and Hanna finally realized there was a member of the KOB with her. Hanna immediately tensed, there was something… Off about the guy, though she couldn't put her finger on what. Asuna pursed her lips lightly as stared at the guy, "That will be all for today. Goodbye."

The guy frowned, "Asuna-sama, you can't let such suspicious people into your home."

Asuna sighs, "They aren't suspicious. They're acquaintances of mine. Besides, they're very skilled. Agil is probably right around your level, if not stronger, and the other two are at least twenty levels higher than you, Kuradeel."

Kuradeel scowls, "You're suggesting they're superior to me? And by such a large margin as well?" Suddenly understanding washes over his face, "I see…" His expression darkens, "They're those filthy Beaters."

Asuna's expression tightens with displeasure, and Kirito turns to him, "Yes, we are."

Kuradeel abruptly takes a few steps forward, getting into Asuna's personal space, "Asuna-sama, all they care about is themselves! Nothing good will come of being being around them!"

His loud exclamation drew the attention of everyone nearby, and confused murmuring began to break out as they recognized Asuna and wondered what was going on.

Asuna glanced around with a frown, then turned her gaze to Kuradeel, harshly ordering him, "Just go home for today. That's an order from your vice commander."

With that she turned and began to march away, clearly displeased with what had happened. Kirito stares at Kuradeel a moment longer, then suddenly Asuna grabs the back of his coat and begins dragging him. He looks over his shoulder at her, awkwardly stumbling backwards, "H-Hey, are you sure about this?"

Asuna doesn't hesitate, firmly telling him, "I'm sure!"

Hanna glances back at Kuradeel one last time. She doesn't like the dark look he's pinning her mate with at all, but he hasn't actually _done_ anything, so with a harsh warning glare that has him taking a startled step back, she hurries to catch up with her mate and friend, Agil following right behind.

Once they'd caught up and turned the corner out of site, Hanna saves her mate from Asuna, "You know, if you wanna march off furiously, we'd go faster if Kirito wasn't trying to stumble backwards."

Asuna gives her a startled look, then releases Kirito with an embarrassed flush, "Sorry. That guy just really gets under my skin. Both with his attitude and with the way he creeps me out."

Agil frowns in concern, "Does he act inappropriately towards you?"

Asuna sighs, "Well… No. I don't know why he creeps me out to be honest. I know you're not suppose to judge people without reason, but there's just something about that guy that feels… off. It's especially aggravating since he's been assigned as my guard."

Hanna frowns, "So it's not just me then. My mom always says that a woman's intuition is one of her most powerful assets. You should trust it. If that guy bothers you for some reason, there's probably something to it. You should ask for a different guard, though I don't know why _you_ of all people need one."

Asuna sighs, "Maybe… It would probably be for the best, though I'm not sure my request would be accepted so easily. I was very outspoken against the new regulation saying that all high ranking members of the guild are required to have at least one guard, which is why I have one to answer your question. They might just ignore my complaints, thinking I'm just trying to get out of having a guard."

Hanna huffs, "I don't think you need one, but the whole **point** of a guard is someone you trust to have your back. Trust being the key thing there. You don't have to _like_ your guard, but you do need to be able to trust them, to an extent. If they refuse to take your discomfort seriously, then they don't respect you and they _certainly_ don't deserve to have you to begin with."

Asuna shrugs, "Maybe, but it's not like I can just leave."

Hanna stops, and pins her with an incredulous look, "Of course you can!"

Asuna tilts her head, "Well, yes, technically I _can_ , but with my reputation, it would reflect badly on the guild if I just up and left. Especially if it wasn't a… friendly parting, so to speak. It would be incredibly rude to just abandon my commitment and damage the guild's reputation like that."

Hanna gives an aggravated huff, shaking her head, "Again I'm seeing the cultural differences between the Japanese and Americans. If they don't respect and deserve you, how the hell is it rude of _you_ to take your leave? _**They're**_ the ones at fault."

There's a pause in the conversation as they teleport to Selmburg. Asuna shrugs, "I don't really know how else to explain it to you. I suppose we'll just have to accept the difference as it is."

Hanna sighs, "I suppose so. I don't think I'd ever understand why you'd stay."

Asuna tilts her head, "Like I said, it's out of respect. Even if I have been thinking about leaving the guild, unless I can convince Heathcliff to let me go, I _can't_."

Kirito frowns at her, "Is it really getting that bad in the KOB?"

Asuna sighs, "I just don't like how the guilds been changing. The commander used to invite everyone into the guild personally, back when we were smaller. But then we began getting more and more people. After people started saying we were the strongest guild, everything started getting weird."

Hanna looks away, "Other than leaving the guild, which you refuse to do, I don't know what else you could do about it."

Asuna shrugs, "Nothing really…" Just as a bell begins to ring in the distance, she shakes her head, then smiles at them, "Well, there's no use worrying about it. Besides, that's not really the type of conversation you want to have right before a fantastic dinner, now is it?"

Kirito smiles lightly in return, "No, it definitely isn't! Talking about bad subjects just before or during a meal negatively affects the quality of that meal. It would be an absolute waste of Ragout Rabbit to talk of such things before we eat."

The three of them laugh at that, and Asuna nods, "Precisely. This is a once in a lifetime chance, so let's not waste it with such depressing topics!"

* * *

Over an hour later, they'd finished the rather fantastic meal. Weirdly, when Asuna materialized the meat, they'd discovered that just the meat item alone was almost twice the size of the rabbit. It didn't make any sense, but Hanna had just chalked it up to video game weirdness.

Asuna gave a content sigh, "I've been here for two years, and this is the first S-Class ingredient I've had. I'm glad I've survived this long."

Kirito nods, "Yeah…."

Asuna lowers her head a bit, "It's strange… It kind of feels like I was born and raised here my entire life. It's just a feeling."

Kirito gazes at the table sadly, "Lately, there are days I can't even remember the other world. And it isn't just me. Recently, fewer and fewer people have been giving their all to clear the game."

Hanna frowns, "It irritates me, to be honest. Yes, we're all beginning to get used to Aincrad, but we still have our families to get back to."

Agil nods, "Mhm. I may not be on the frontlines anymore, but I still want to get out of here. I miss my wife."

Asuna smiles, "I want to go back too. There are lots of things I never had a chance to do there." She glances briefly at Hanna, "Goals I haven't had the chance to achieve."

Kirito returns her smile, "Yeah. Unless we do our best, it isn't fair to the merchants and others who are supporting us."

Asuna nods at that. There's a bit of silence, then Asuna looks up at them, "Can I ask you something? Why don't you want to join a guild? I mean, I know as the so called Beaters it would be difficult to fit in, but… Ever since we reached the 70th floor, the mob algorithms seem to be more and more irregular." There was a brief pause, then Kirito nodded in agreement, at which Asuna continued, "I know you guys have the highest levels in the game due to your grinding habits, but there are still things you can't handle with just the two of you. And you can't always warp out."

Kirito looks away with a frown, "We're careful."

Agil snorts, "Most people would say your grinding habits alone are reckless, much less all the stuff you guys get up to, like taking on Mini-Bosses on your own. There's a _reason_ you guys are called crazy."

Hanna pouts at him, "Traitor. Right after I invited you to dinner to." Then she shakes her head, "Kirito and I know what we're doing."

Kirito nods, "Besides, other than Hanna, I can't think of that many people who wouldn't be more of a hindrance than helpful."

Asuna spasms, her hand twitching towards her knife as she pins Kirito with a murderous glare, "Is that so?"

Kirito becomes nervous at her dark look, and lifts a hand in surrender, "I get it. You're one of those few exceptions."

Asuna nods firmly, "Exactly." Kirito breaths a sigh of relief as she stops glaring at him, and Asuna hums, "If you understand that, you should let me party up with you guys for a bit. It's been forever." Kirito makes a choked noise, drawing laughter from Hanna and Agil, and Asuna idly adds, "Also, black is my lucky color this week."

Hanna opens her mouth, but before she can say anything Kirito cuts her off, "What! But what about your guild?"

Asuna shrugs, "We don't have any leveling quotas."

She really doesn't understand why Kirito seems so adamantly against it, but he continues without hesitation, "Th-Then what about your guard?"

Asuna starts to clearly get irritated by that point, "I'll ditch him."

Kirito leans back, obviously unable to think of another reason right off the bat, he went to take a drink of his tea, clearly still thinking it over, only to realize his cup was empty. Asuna was one step ahead of him however, and was already holding the pitcher with a smug smile, as though it proved something. With a sigh, he put his cup on the saucer and slid it to the middle of the table, then pulled it back when it had been refilled.

Picking the cup back up, he opened his mouth, but from his expression, it was clear to Hanna it was another protest, so she covered his mouth with her hand. She smiled at Asuna, "That sounds like fun! You should totally party with us for a bit!"

Asuna smiles back with a firm nod, "Then it's decided!"

With that she sends a party request to Hanna, who happily accepts. Only then does she remove her hand from Kirito's mouth. He sighs in resignation, "Well then, since I apparently have no say in this since you two have made up your minds, it's… Nice to be working together with you again Asuna."

Agil laughs at that, "Ah, Kirito, you've got an incredibly stubborn wife and female friend. The sooner you realize that it's nearly impossible to tell such women 'no' the better off you'll be. I really don't see why you've got such a problem with it anyway." He sighs, "Actually, if I didn't have my shop to take care of, I might've joined you guys."

Kirito gives him a pained look, "... It's _because_ it's Asuna and Hanna…. Together…. In a party…. With _**me**_. I'm outnumbered by stubborn women now Agil." That draws a sympathetic wince from Agil and giggling from the girls. Kirito pouts down at his tea, muttering, "At least before they got along I could almost always count on Hanna siding with me out of sheer principle, but ever since they started getting along it's just not the same. _Now_ though she sides with _Asuna_ to tease me…. It's almost as bad as Hanna and Argo together…." He turns his pout to Asuna, "If I've gotta put up with the two of you _together_ for hours then I demand you make lunch at least!"

Asuna tries vainly to hide her amused smile behind her hand, "You just want more of my sandwiches."

Kirito huffs, "So?"

Asuna shakes her head, "Oh, alright. Since you have to valiantly put up with the horror of the two of us together, I'll be nice and grace you with sandwiches for lunch tomorrow."

Hanna gives Asuna a mischievous grin, "It's just a shame we'll be going to the frontline labyrinth. Otherwise, I'm sure _Argo_ would _**love**_ to join us, don't you think?"

Asuna gave her a positively _**evil**_ grin, " _Oooh,_ _ **definitely**_. You know, maybe we should party up with her sometime. The four of us going questing together would be fun!"

Hanna beams at her, "Oh, that's an _excellent_ idea my dear Asuna! We totally should!" She turns her wickedly amused look to her mate, "What do you think Kirito? Doesn't that sound fun?"

He stares at her in mute horror. After a moment, Agil pats Kirito on the shoulder, "It was nice knowing you my dear friend. I'll say great things about you at your funeral."

Kirito turns a fierce glare on him, "Traitor! I _knew_ there had to be a reason I liked Klein more! _He'd_ have my back here!"

Agil just snorts, so Kirito descends into furious mumbling, she doesn't catch much, but it's obvious he's attempting to either make plans to make sure the 'unholy trio' doesn't _actually_ happen, or at the very least if it's inevitable, convince Klein to save him. Hanna shares an amused look with Asuna. Tomorrow was sure to be fun, perhaps it was just the right combination of the relaxation Asuna needed with the focus Hanna herself currently required.

* * *

October 18th, 2024- 713 days since SAO launch:

Hanna glanced at her clock as Kirito muttered, "She's late…"

Since they had agreed to meet in front of the Teleport Gate at nine, Asuna was in fact ten minutes late. Considering she'd had problems sleeping the night before, for once she was on the same page as her sleepy head of a mate. Right after Kirito yawned again, they heard the Teleport Gate make the distinctive noise of an incoming player. They both turned to the gate just in time for Asuna to come flying out with a shout followed immediately by a cry, "Watch out!"

Of course, by the time she said it, it was already too late, and she landed right on top of Kirito. It took Hanna's sleep deprived brain a moment of staring to realize the unfortunate position Asuna had landed on him. Namely with her breasts squishing his face. Moving forward, she quickly helped Asuna out of the accidental but rather embarrassing position Asuna had ended up in with her mate.

Helping Asuna brush dirt from her usually pristine uniform, she asked in concern, "What the hell happened Asuna? Normal people don't run through the Teleport Gate precisely _because_ it spits them out like that." That however, seemed to only remind her why she'd been running, and she suddenly put Kirito between herself and the Teleport Gate, "Th-That… _pervert_ was watching my house when I got up this morning! And he wouldn't leave me _alone_. He's _**stalking**_ me!"

Hanna tilted her head in confusion, "Who-"

She didn't get any farther before the Teleport Gate activated again. Whirling around, she saw none other than Kuradeel calmly come through the Gate. He glanced around, and as soon as he laid eyes on Asuna, he sighed like an adult dealing with a particularly troublesome child, "Asuna-sama, you shouldn't act like this. Let's go to guild headquarters."

Asuna shook her head fiercely, "No! What were you doing outside my house so early anyway?!"

Kuradeel raises an eyebrow as though it should be obvious, "I thought this might happen, so for the past month, part of my mission has been to observe you in Selmburg."

Asuna gives him an incredulous look, "Th-That wasn't part of the guild leader's orders, was it?"

Kuradeel firmly tells her, "My mission is to guard you. That includes at your home."

As Asuna protested that, Hanna narrowed her eyes. Perhaps it _had_ been part of Heathcliff's orders. It was obvious Asuna was no longer content with the KOB, and she honestly didn't _need_ a guard. Perhaps Heathcliff was worried she would leave, and had only assigned her a 'guard' to keep an eye on her. From what she knew of the man, it wasn't too far outside of the realm of possibility.

She refocused as she realized Kuradeel was approaching Asuna and Kirito, and quickly cut him off shouldering him back with a glare. Asuna was her friend, and she _**really**_ didn't like how he'd been looking at her mate the day before, "A man who can't respect a lady's boundaries has no place being her 'guard'. Get out of here, before I _make_ you."

Kuradeel sneers at her furiously, "You can't _make_ me do anything, so I suggest you stay out of this you filthy Beater. Asuna-sama's safety is _**my**_ responsibility, which means you're interfering with Knights of the Blood business."

Hanna narrows her eyes, "I may not be able to do anything to _you_ , but you know what I can do? I can break your equipment. Only a fool would attempt to go anywhere near the labyrinth without gear. Not to mention, that flashy sword and your chest plate would probably be rather expensive to replace, wouldn't it? Besides, Asuna doesn't **need** a guard, but she's _**much**_ safer with Kirito and I than a weak creep like **you**."

Kuradeel took a sharp breath in, fury taking over his features, "Is that so? If you're so confident you guys can guard Asuna-sama better, I suppose you wouldn't mind _proving_ it, now would you?"

Hanna scoffs as the creep sends her a duel invite. This guy was either a fucking moron or stupidly overconfident, either way, she'd happily put the creep in his place, the only problem was she wasn't sure if Asuna would be ok with it. Glancing at the girl in question, she receives a nod, Kirito gives her a worried look as he murmurs, "Are you sure it's ok?"

Asuna nods again, "It's fine. I'll report this to the guild leader myself later."

With a firm nod, Hanna turns back around and accepts the duel without hesitation, immediately selecting «First Strike Mode» rather than the usually preferred «Half Loss Mode» which ended as soon as one player went into the yellow of their health bar. Kuradeel drew his two handed handed sword as soon as the countdown started, pointing it at her like an idiot, "Watch carefully, Asuna-sama. I'll prove that these people can't protect you like I can."

Without responding, Asuna backed up a bit with Kirito to give her more room. A crowd had long since gathered to see what «Lightning Flash Asuna» and a member of the KOB were arguing about, but now they began to murmur excitedly, "«She-Devil Hanna» is going to duel a member of the Knights of the Blood!"

"This'll be fun to watch!"

Hanna scowled. She-Devil Hanna, oh how she _**hated**_ that name, even if it was ironically correct. People had started calling her it sometime after the 50th floor boss fight. Kuradeel tsked in annoyance, then brought his weapon up into a ready stance. She didn't even bother drawing her sword though, simply readied her claw.

He scowled angrily, "You arrogant little… You think you can beat me with a _**claw**_?!"

Hanna stared him down coldly, bluntly informing him, "I **know** I can."

Asuna had said that Kuradeel was 'at least twenty levels below her', seeing as she had a rather good idea of her and Kirito's levels, that put Kuradeel at just about level eighty. The thing was, she'd faithfully taken care of and leveled her Cursed Claw ever since she got it oh so long ago. _It_ was now level 93. In other words, her _claw_ was a higher level than he was. Not to mention, he was using a two handed sword, something that gave up the speed and ability to equip an additional off hand weapon for more powerful attacks and larger reach. He was already incredibly slow, but she was a high agility player.

As the timer ticked the last few seconds down, she judged the distance between them, carefully adjusted the aim of her claw, and prepared the skill «Lightning Rush». Technically she had a stronger rush attack, but using Lightning Rush to defend Asuna seemed more fitting, even if she was the only one who'd know.

The crowd was hoping for a show. She had no intention of giving them one. The moment the timer gave the notification sound starting the duel, she activated her skill. Kuradeel had barely begun to shift his weapon into a skill activating stance before she was behind him, both his sword and chest plate breaking with her pinpoint strike. There was a dead silence from the crowd as he stared down at his weapon in shock.

After a moment the crowd began to murmur again, "... didn't even see her move…"

"... broke his weapon and armor with _one hit_ …"

She turned and gave him a cold glare, "I told you. If I had to make you leave, you'll be leaving without your equipment."

Giving her a furious look, he quickly equips a dagger before rushing her. Just as she brings her weapon up to block though, Asuna disarms him and steps between them with a glare in one fluid motion.

Kuradeel gives her an alarmed look, "A-Asuna-sama…" There's a brief pause, then he suddenly points a shaking finger at Hanna, "She cheated! She used some trick to destroy my gear! Otherwise, I never would've lost to some filthy Beater."

Asuna frowns sternly at him, "Kuradeel, this is an order from the vice commander of the Knights of the Blood. As of today, you are relieved of you mission to guard me. Stand by at guild HQ until you receive further orders. That is all."

Kuradeel gave her a shocked look, "W-What?" Then he glared at Hanna, "You…"

He looked like he desperately wanted to say or do something, but after a moment, he slumped in defeat, and silently went to the Teleport Gate before leaving. As soon as he was gone, Asuna slumped tiredly against Hanna with a sigh of relief. After a moment, the crowd began to talk amongst themselves as they slowly dispersed.

Asuna turned to them, "I'm sorry for involving you guys in that."

Hanna shook her head, "It's fine. We're friends aren't we?" Asuna nods with a smile, which she briefly returns before frowning, "Besides…. I already sort of had problems with him."

Asuna tilts her head, "How so? You only just met him yesterday, didn't you?"

Hanna nods firmly informing Asuna, "Yes, I did, and it wasn't a good first impression. Not only did something about him set off my intuition, but I also didn't like the way he talked to you, and I _hated_ the look he gave Kirito when you were dragging him off. You'd almost think he was plotting Kirito's murder or something with a look like that. So, yes. I _already_ had rather terrible issues with him right off the bat. You can call me judgmental all you like, but I don't care if he changes into a fucking _saint_ after that today, I still won't like him."

Kirito flushes in embarrassment, "Oi! Defend Asuna all you like, but it's not like I need to defend my- my honor or anything!"

Hanna shoves a hand over his mouth with a sharp, "Shush! I'll defend _you_ all I like, and you'll never convince me otherwise!"

Kirito tried to say something, but it was thoroughly muffled by her hand. She shook her head anyway, "Never gonna happen."

Kirito gives her an irritated look, saying something else unintelligible. She huffs, "No."

He rolls his eyes. Then after a moment, says something else. She tilts her head at him, "I don't know, are you gonna keep protesting my right to defend you?"

He sighs, then gives a barely understandable, "No."

Hanna gives him a suspicious look, then removes her hand. He grumbles a bit, but doesn't outright argue anymore. Asuna relaxes a bit, giggling at their antics. Hanna turns to her with a wide grin before slinging an arm around her neck and pulling her close, "So my dear Asuna! You get the immense honor of hanging out with us today!" That draws snorts from the other two, which she ignores, "So, what's it gonna be? Exciting quest? A heart pounding sub-dungeon with an equally epic mini-boss at the end? Death defying shenanigans of the like only we Beaters get up to?"

Asuna gives her an amused look, "This was supposed to be a relaxing break away from my guild."

Hanna tilts her head, "It is!"

Asuna rolls her eyes, "I would've thought it was obvious what we were doing when we agreed to meet here. We're labyrinth mapping."

Hanna gives an exaggerated sigh, "Boring. I was hoping for something else. You're no fun Asuna, you know that?"

Kirito shakes his head, "Honestly Hanna, she wants to take the day off and party with friends. All that stuff is for **tomorrow**."

That startles a laugh out of Asuna, then she gives him a mischievous grin, "In that case, I'll accept your offer and take it easy today. You can be the forward."

Kirito jerks in shock, "W-Wait a second! We take turns as forward!"

Asuna just continues to grin at him without missing a beat, "I'll do it tomorrow!"

Hanna laughs, then pushes him ahead of them, "Well, since you so graciously offered, I suppose I'll take it easy today as well!"

Kirito stumbles from her push, then makes a rather hilariously high pitched sound, "What?! No! You can't just-! You're supposed to-! Oh, come on! You're my partner! My _wife_! This is supposed to be an equal sharing of duties thing, isn't it?!"

Hanna laughs, the ever present doubt fading just the tiniest bit at those words, but still there. Always there. Ever since Laughing Coffin. She did her best to ignore it, as she usually did, instead smiling at Kirito, "Of course it is silly! I'm just teasing. Calm down."

He pouts at her, then pulls ahead a bit to grumble to himself in peace. Once his attention is off of her, her smile fades as she gazes at his back, pain, worry, _doubt_ , and so many other emotions swirling in her head. After a moment, her arm is nudged, taking her entirely by surprise. Looking over she flushes, she'd forgotten about Asuna, and was now receiving a concerned questioning look. Swallowing thickly, she looked away, giving Asuna a firm shake of her head without looking at her. There was a brief pause, then a sigh from Asuna.

She felt guilty. Asuna had been nothing but a good friend recently, but this was _**personal**_. Besides, there wasn't wasn't actually anything wrong with her and Kirito _yet_. It was doubt and the knowledge she'd almost surely lose her mate when she finally told him the truth that was slowly breaking her heart. There was nothing Asuna could do to help her.

* * *

Five hours later, they'd reached the twentieth floor of the labyrinth, and explored no less than 27 paths. Exploring the dungeon was actually really easy, given that she and Kirito were used to exporting at night when the mobs were a lot harder, _and_ Asuna was tagging along. Though she'd joked about it earlier, it actually _was_ turning out to be rather boring. Not that she'd say anything. The whole point of this was to give Asuna a chance to relax, and she clearly was, if the content look that appeared on her face between fights was any indication.

Abruptly Asuna pulls her attention away from her thoughts and Kirito's from the map, "Guys, look."

Lifting their gazes from the floor and map respectively, they both pause as they lay eyes on the boss door itself. After a moment, they hesitantly approach. Finally stopping right in front of the door, Asuna murmurs, "Is this… the boss door?"

Kirito nods, "Probably."

Asuna shifts nervously, " They've never looked so…. intimidating before though…."

Kirito shrugs with a nervous expression, "Well, no, but what else could it possibly be?"

Asuna pauses, then tilts her head, "So what do we do? Just take a look?"

Kirito glances at her, "Boss monsters never leave the rooms they guard. If we just open the door, we'll be ok."

Asuna nods hesitantly, "R-Right."

Kirito shifts, "Have a Teleport Crystal ready, just in case." Asuna nods, and all the of them ready crystals. Kirito glances at each of them in turn, "Ready?"

Asuna nods again, and they both extend the fists clutching Teleport Crystals, each pushing on a door with their knuckles. After a brief moment, the doors begin to slowly open, and both Asuna and Kirito take a few cautious steps inside the dark room. Hanna doesn't understand why they _both_ went inside, only one player needed to enter the room to activate the boss, but she doesn't say anything, just stays right outside the doorway. The doors finish opening with a loud noise, and about ten seconds later, large metal touches on tall pillars situated around the edge of the circular room begin to light up in rapid succession. The boss raises its head to stare at them, and both Kirito and Asuna gasp lightly. Above its head the name «The Gleam Eyes» appears, and just above its shoulder four health bars appear. It straightens up, towering over them, then begins to raise its massive sword with one hand. Releasing a ferocious roar, it's eyes begin to glow a bright almost white shade of blue.

And with that, both Kirito and Asuna scream, turning around and running away. As he passes her, Kirito makes a grab for her arm, but she pulls it out of the way, completely confused. He turns his head over his shoulder, but doesn't stop running, "What are you doing Hanna?! We gotta get out of here!"

Hanna tilts her head in confusion, "Why? The boss can't actually… leave… the…. room…." She slowly trails off as she realizes they aren't listening in the slightest, "... Aaaand they're gone."

She turns back towards to room. If a boss is capable of looking confused, this one certainly does. In fact, it was staring at her in a way that almost felt like it was saying, 'Was it something I said?' She shrugs, "I don't know buddy. I'm just as confused as you are." Aaand it was tilting it's head at her. Yup, she was apparently imagining the boss holding a silent conversation with her, which was definitely her cue to leave, before she _really_ started showing signs of insanity and began hallucinating it _talking_ to her. She backs up a few steps, pointing a thumb over her shoulder, "I'm just gonna…. Right! Nice chat. Bye!"

Turning she began jogging after her mate and friend, opening her map to follow the little dots of her party members as she goes before moving it off to the side so it wouldn't get in the way if she had to fight any mobs. Noticing how far they already were and that they weren't even slowing down yet, she couldn't help but wonder if they were going to run all the way back to the safe area. In the distance, she can faintly hear Kirito shouting at her to hurry up. Idly she wonders if he even noticed she wasn't with them. What was truly baffling, was that he had to realize on _some_ level that she wasn't in any danger, or his instincts as her soulmate wouldn't have let him run away, and yet he **still** ran away screaming with Asuna.

* * *

As she finally reached the safe area, which she had been amused to note they _had_ run all the way back to, she was immediately set upon by both of her anxious party members. Kirito quickly pulled her forward, examining her intensely despite the fact than the effects of anything less than a lost limb would've faded by now, "Where were you?! We got back and you weren't with us!"

Asuna nods rapidly, "We were beginning to think that thing had _**eaten**_ you or something!"

Hanna gives them amused looks, "... Riiight. Because a cluster of algorithms designed only to fight me, and even then in a very _specific_ way is going to leave the room it's bound to and _**eat**_ me." There was a pause as both of her companions slowly turned red with embarrassed realization. Hanna shakes her head with an amused chuckle, "I can't believe you two, the so called _**Black Swordsman**_ and _**Lightning Flash**_ ran away screaming like a couple little _girls_."

There was yet more mute embarrassment from the two who stubbornly refuse to look at either her or each other. Then Kirito reluctantly looks at her, "... What's it going to take to have you _**not**_ tell Argo, Klein, Agil, or _anyone_ _else_."

Hanna _grins_ at him, " _Oooh_ , a _**lot**_ of bribery might just do the trick, but we'll discuss that at a later date."

He grumbles, but nods reluctantly. Asuna clears her throat, "W-Well! Err… Let's have lunch! Yes, lunch! We- Uhh… We need to eat it soon anyway, otherwise it's durability will disappear!"

Kirito nods, then obviously hoping to distract her from thoughts of bribery agrees just a to a bit too loudly, "Yes! That's an excellent idea! B-Besides! It's almost 2:30 and we still haven't eaten!"

Amusement fills her as they move over to the only wall in the safe area to lean against it while they're sitting. Using food as a distraction wouldn't work on her. She wasn't Kirito after all. She wasn't about to mention that though. Asuna materialized a picnic basket from her inventory, then began opening it, "Gloves off before you get your food."

Kirito doesn't hesitate to agree, immediately opening his menu to do just that. A moment later Asuna holds out a sandwich to Kirito, "Here you go! Just as I promised you last night!"

He accepts it eagerly, and Asuna quickly hands Hanna her own. Kirito stares at his for a brief moment, then eagerly takes a huge bite. Quickly chewing it, his eyes light up as he smiles, "It's delicious!" Pausing to take another bite, he skillfully mumbles around a mouthful of food without actually opening his mouth enough for any of said food to be seen, "But how do you make it taste so good?"

Asuna manipulates the menu she hadn't closed, opening up dozens of notes which hover around them only a couple seconds later, happily explaining, "A year's worth of studying and practice." Looking up at all her notes, she smiles widely, "To make this, I analyzed the effects of more than a hundred spices to see how the taste reproduction engine handled each one." She looks down at the picnic basket still in her lap, picking up a bottle with a green liquid in it, "Here. Try tasting glogwa seeds and shuble seeds together."

Pouring a tiny bit onto his hand, she recloses the bottle, and watches him with a smile. He tastes it quickly, then looks up with wide eyes, murmuring, "It's mayonnaise…"

Asuna puts the bottle back, grabbing one with a purple liquid, "Now try some abilpa beans, sagu leaves, and oola fish bones."

As Asuna opens the bottle, Hanna idly began to wonder at her sanity, _'Fish bones? Who uses fish bones to make sauces?'_

Kirito doesn't waste time trying it, despite the dubious ingredients. Immediately he yanks his hand back, staring at it in shock, "Th-This taste is so familiar…" Turning to Asuna, he exclaims with far too much seriousness, "It's soy sauce!"

Hanna rolls her eyes at her mate's antics as she starts to take a bite, only to freeze at the next words out of Asuna's mouth, "This is how I made the sauce for the sandwiches."

Hanna remains frozen halfway through the process of taking a bite, then gazes down her nose at the sandwich, _'These things have_ _ **fish bones**_ _in them?!... But they're so good…. Urgh, I'm never going to be able to look at Asuna's cooking the same.'_

Despite that, she finally finished taking her bite. Asuna's cooking was far too delicious to let go to waste. Next to her, Kirito happily exclaimed, "Amazing! It's perfect!"

Hanna rolls her eyes at her mate, _'Yeah, if you ignore the fact there are freaking fish bones in it.'_

Kirito turns his excited glances towards the hand Asuna had poured her weird concoctions on before turning back to her, "If you started selling them, you'd get rich in no time!"

Asuna glances away in embarrassment, "Y-You think so?"

Kirito abruptly gasps lightly, then crosses his arms firmly telling her, "No, actually, it's a terrible idea."

Asuna looks at him in shock, ""W-Why?"

Kirito turns to her with a dead serious expression, "Then I wouldn't get to have any."

Asuna stares at him in shock for a moment, then sighs, "You're so selfish…"

Hanna snorts, "When it comes to food? Definitely. I'd appreciate if you did _me_ a favor though Asuna, and _not_ tell me what goes in your food from now on. I could've happily gone my whole life without knowing I was eating processed _**fish bones**_."

Asuna blushes, "Err, sorry about that. I'll keep my mouth shut from now on…"

At that moment, a group entered the safe zone. The three of them had already shot to their feet and had their hands on their weapons before they realized it was Klein and Fuurinkazan. All looking exhausted and complaining about the tiring day to each other. Abruptly they stopped when they noticed them, then Klein's face lit up, "Whoa, Kirito! And Hanna too! It's been so long since I've seen you guys!"

Klein began to move towards them, and Kirito removed his hand from his sword, looking away with a frown. She sighs quietly as she sees that look. Kirito had always felt incredibly guilty about leaving Klein behind that day. Not that she didn't, but it certainly didn't eat at her nearly to the extent of her mate. Kirito still isn't looking at Klein, "So you're still alive, Klein?"

Klein grins lightly, "You're still as rude as ever!" Then he finally seems to notice it isn't just the two of them as usual, "Oh, what do we have here? It's always just you and Hanna, why do you have…"

He trails off as he finally realizes who it is accompanying them. Kirito glances at Asuna, "Well, you already know each other from clearing bosses, but let me introduce you properly." He gestures to Klein as he looks as Asuna, "This is Klein from Fuurinkazan." Turning his gaze to Klein, he moves his hand over to indicate Asuna, "This is Asuna from the Knights of the Blood." Asuna nods lightly in greeting. Klein however still hasn't moved a muscle since he trailed off, and Kirito finally seems to notice. He waves his hand in front of Klein's face, "Hey, say something…. Are you lagging?"

He stops after a moment in confusion, but suddenly Klein snaps into movement, lowering his head with a flush, he shoves a hand out to shake as he stutters out, "N-Nice t-to meet you! I-I'm Klein, 20(1), single, looking for a girlfr-"

He was abruptly cut off by Kirito punching him in the gut. The rest of Fuurinkazan shouted at that, then quickly formed a half circle in front of Kirito and Asuna. There was a beat of silence, before they all simultaneously leaned forward, excitedly proclaiming, "It's Asuna!"

Without hesitation, they began to crowd in, all of them talking rapidly to her, to Asuna's shock. She honestly didn't quite seem to know what to do. Kirito held them back, then glanced over his shoulder at her with an awkward grin, "Well, they're not bad guys… Despite what their leader looks like…." Klein abruptly stomps on Kirito's foot, and he grunts in discomfort before turning to the older man, "What…"

Klein laughs lightly, "Heh, payback! You idiot…."

Asuna suddenly starts giggling at the ridiculousness of the situation, and the boys all fall silent before Klein grabs Kirito by the neck and simultaneously turns them around as he drags the younger man closer before stage whispering, "What's going on, Kirito?"

Kirito hesitated, "Ah, well…."

Asuna suddenly leans toward Klein's back with an amused smile, "Nice to meet you. I'm just taking a break from my guild and partying with these two for a bit."

Fuurinkazan and Klein all let out confused, Eh's, then Klein turned to Kirito sharply, "Kirito, explain!"

Kirito held up his hands in surrender, "W-Wait!"

Kirito was saved by the rather forceful demands from Klein by the sound of a large group heading there way. Immediately all humor drained from them at the possibility of enemies, slim though it may be. They'd learned to be a lot more cautious then they'd already been from Laughing Coffin. They all turn their attention towards where the noise was coming from, watching one of the entrances to the safe area wearily.

Kirito stared in shock as the players got close enough to identify, "Isn't that The Army?"

Klein looked just as confused, "What's that zerg(2) guild that occupies the first floor doing here?"

Asuna frowns, "Ever since they suffered heavy losses attempting to beat the 25th floor boss, they've been focusing more on strengthening their organization instead of fighting on the front lines."

Hanna scowls furiously, "You mean ever since that _**bokachoda**_ got 37 people _killed_."

Half turning to her in confusion, Asuna tilts her head, "... Bokachoda?"

Hanna glances at her, "Very rude way to call someone stupid in Bengali. Don't repeat it."

Asuna glances at Kirito in askance, but he just shrugs, "Err… Alright then."

At that point, the group's leader came to a halt in front of his men, then turned to them and called out, "Rest!" His men all immediately sank to the ground in exhaustion, but he ignored them, turning away and approaching their group, "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Corbatz of the Aincrad Liberation Army."

Her mate stared at the man with a serious expression, "I'm Kirito. Unaffiliated."

Corbatz nods a brief greeting, then continues without preamble, "Have you ventured any further than this?"

Kirito's eyes narrow in suspicion, "Yes, we've mapped out the area up to the boss room."

Corbatz grunts in understanding, "I'd like to have the map data."

That seemed to startle Klein and Asuna, though Hanna didn't really know why. The front liners shared that information with each other freely, it was only other players who would have a bit of hassle to get it. The Army may not be front liners anymore, but it was obvious what they wanted it for, much to Hanna's irritation. Really, hadn't that bokachoda learned his lesson before?

Klein scowls at him, "You want it for free? Do you know how hard it is to map out an area?"

Corbatz frowns heavily at Klein, "We divide information and resources equally to all, maintain order, and fight to free players from this world as soon as possible! That's why you should cooperate with us!"

Hanna rolls her eyes, ' _What a load of self-righteous bullshit.'_

Asuna leans forward angrily, "Oh, really?!"

Klein took a step forward, "Don't-"

That's as far as he gets before Kirito holds up a hand in front of him, stopping his advance and whatever he was about to say, though he doesn't take his eyes off Corbatz, "It's ok, I planned to make it public when we got back to the city anyway. No big deal."

Klein turns his gaze to Kirito, 'You're being way too nice, Kirito!"

Kirito shakes his head, "I'm not the kind to trade map data."

Corbatz huffs, "I appreciate your cooperation."

As he begins to walk back to his men, Kirito calls out to him, "If you're thinking of fighting the boss, don't bother."

Corbatz pauses, but doesn't turn back to them, "That's for me to decide."

Kirito's eyes widen in shock, "We checked the boss room earlier! It's not something you can handle with so few people!" His gaze turns to Corbatz's group, "Look, your men are exhausted!"

Corbatz finally turns back to him, "My men aren't weak enough to give up from something so trivial!" He turns back to his men, "Men! Stand up already!"

The group does as told, but it's obvious they aren't exactly happy about it, if their groans are any indication. The Army immediately heads out under their worried gazes. Hanna huffs, "Il est stupide de."

Klein glances at her, then frowns at Corbatz's back, "You know, somehow I think I've got a pretty good idea what that means." His irritated frown turns into one of concern, "...Are they going to be alright?"

Asuna sighs, "Whatever. I doubt they'd try to fight it the first time they saw it… "

There is a brief pause before Klein says, "We should probably follow them, just to make sure."

Kirito glances at Klein and the members of Fuurinkazan, then shakes his head at their satisfied grins, "Who's the nice guy now?"

* * *

Klein huffs as they finished off the most recent wave of mobs, "It can't be much farther to the Boss Room, but we still haven't seen them. Maybe they teleported out?"

Kirito hums, "Maybe, but I'd like to check anyway, just to be su-"

He was cut off by a loud terrified scream from ahead. Immediately they all took off as fast as they could, but Hanna, Kirito, and Asuna quickly left the others behind. Though as they pulled ahead, Hanna absently noted that Klein was noticeably faster than his guildmates, so he'd probably catch up a bit sooner.

When they reached the Boss Room it was to the sight of the Army receiving a thorough beatdown. A second later the boss's name and health bars appear, revealing that the army had actually managed to take off a little over half a bar of its health.. Kirito calls out in alarm, "What are you doing! Hurry up and teleport out of there! Now!"

One of the men held out the teleport Crystal in his hand, shouting back, "We can't! They aren't working!"

Asuna sounded completely disbelieving, "But Boss Rooms have never been trapped before..."

Hanna purses her lips, "They are now."

Just then the commander managed to pull some of his men together, and while pointing his weapon at the boss shouts, "The Aincrad Liberation Force will never suffer the shame of defeat! Fight! We must fight on!"

They all tensed even further at that proclamation, but it was Kirito that put what they were all thinking into words, "That fool! He's going to get them all killed!"

At that moment Klein caught up, he quickly took in the scene before them, "What's going on? Why haven't they just teleported?"

Klein turns his attention to Kirito as he grimly fills him in on the problem, "The Boss Room is an Anti-Crystal Area. If we rushed in we _might_ be able to open an escape route for them, but..."

Klein turns his worried gaze back to the Boss Room, "Isn't there something we can do?"

Hanna draws her sword, bluntly replying, "Of course there is. The only thing being questioned is if you guys feel like following me to what might be our deaths."

Before the other three can respond, the Army members attempt to launch an attack at their commanders shouted order, but they all knew how that would turn out, so Kirito fearfully calls out to them, "Stop!"

The Gleam Eyes tilts its head back in preparation, then quickly lowers its head and uses a lightning breath attack before the first person even has a chance to reach it. The attack blows the attackers back. Paralyzed from the electricity, they are left completely open to the bosses follow up attack.

Hanna doesn't wait for a response from the others, she knows she can count on Kirito to follow, at least until the truth about her comes out, and was fairly certain the others would as well, so as soon as the Boss begins to lift it's sword from the ground for the third attack, she rushes it.

Reaching the Boss she quickly hits it seven times. It turns with alarming speed and tries to slash at her, but she quickly jumps back. Chancing a glance behind her, she's pleased to discover that Asuna and Klein _had_ , in fact, followed her and Kirito. Even more, the rest of Fuurinkazan had finally caught up. So she quickly shouts a vague plan to them, "Fuurinkazan, get those players out of here! Klein, Asuna, back me up! Kirito we literally only have four fighters, we need to go all out! The three of us will buy you time to switch to that skill, then you take point!"

Kirito only hesitates for a fraction of a second, then he mumbles his understanding and she hears him jump away from the fight. She rushes back in briefly, but only lands four hits before she has to switch out. Klein rushes past her, but being much slower, doesn't land a hit, only managing to barely deflect two blows before getting smacked away. Asuna jumps in without hesitation to give Klein time to recover, and does only slightly better than Hanna herself had, landing nine hits before being forced to pull back.

Thankfully, Kirito had always been quick at navigating the menu, so he was already done. He rushes past Asuna, already reaching for his second blade, which was in the process of materializing. The Gleam Eyes attempts to hit him with a heavy downward swing, but Kirito draws his second sword just as it appears and blocks it with both his swords in an 'x' above his head. He only holds the guard for a moment before pushing with and swinging both swords simultaneously, forcing the Boss to recoil and staggering it.

Kirito briefly hold the pose to charge a Skill, then mutters the Skills name to himself before activating it. He's a flurry of movement after that, every time the Gleam Eyes hits him, his movements become faster and more ferocious.

Hanna, realizing that at the rate Kirito was eating through the Gleam Eyes' health she wouldn't see anymore action, sheaths her sword and glances around. She grins in an amusement. Now she knows how her mate felt when everyone was gaping at her during the 25th Boss Raid. After Kirito gets punched in the face the second time, his health begins to dip dangerously low. She starts shifting from foot to foot anxiously, then quickly opens and navigates her menu until she has a Health Crystal in her hand. Until the Boss is defeated, the Anti-Crystal trap would still be in effect, but the moment it was defeated, it would drop and she could use this on him. She moves forward to be in Crystal using range as Kirito and the Boss each dealt one last blow to each other and Kirito's health starts draining to alarming levels. By the time the Boss shatters she is in range, and Kirito's health has stabilized at a dangerously low 20 HP.

She uses the Crystal on her mate just as she hears him mutter, "Is it... over?"

He stumbles back a couple steps as the skill cool down lets him go and the congratulations banner appears accompanied by it's usual fanfare in front of him. She moves over to him and grabs his shoulder to hold him steady.

She laughs lightly at his clear confusion when his gaze shifts up and to the left only to find his health full, "Silly sleepy head, your health was at a measly 20 HP, of course I used a Health Crystal on you."

Kirito blinks slowly, probably in some sort of shock, "Oh..."

Without another word Kirito tips backwards, and his eyes slip closed. She catches him before he can hit the ground, then carefully lowers him and settles his head in her lap.

Asuna and Klein rush over shouting his name in worry. It takes a few seconds, but he stirs and comes to. She grins down at him, "Well hello again sleepy head." Seeing his questioning look she answers his inquiry before he can ask, "You were only out for ten, maybe twenty seconds." She starts carding her fingers through his bangs, in response he sighs tiredly and lets his eyes slip closed again. Hanna continues speaking absently, "You know, I would've said you earned more Badass points than me, seeing as the Boss you solo'd had more health and you did it up close and personal with your own weapons, but you lost your lead when you fainted."

Kirito cracks one of his eyes open and pins her with a cross between a pout and a glare, "Hey! It's been a very stressful day, alright? Cut me some slack."

Hanna hums in amusement and gives him a teasing look, "I would concede that you're correct, but we'd had a stressful _week_ leading up to the fight against the 25th floor boss, and I still didn't faint."

Kirito sighs, "Well, that's because you're more resilient than me in every way, but especially emotionally."

Hanna snorts in both amusement and disbelief, especially given her recent plague of doubt, "No I'm not. You're just lame."

He huffs, "Rude."

Asuna sighs, "So he's ok?"

Looking up, the two realized they were surrounded by The Army and Fuurinkazan. Asuna looked close to crying, but held herself back, giving the couple a respectful distance. Then Klein took a couple steps closer, lowering his head with a sad look, "Two members of The Army died."

Kirito stared at him in shock, then lowered his own head, "We haven't lost anyone in a boss fight since the 67th floor."

Klein frowns with a mixture of anger and sadness, "How can you even call this a fight. Fucking idiots! What good are you if you're dead?!

After what had just happened, The Army members don't seem like they intend to try and correct him, and Corbatz seems to be in too much shock to say much of anything.

After a few moments, Klein takes a deep breath, shakes his head firmly, then grins at them, obviously attempting to move away from the depressing mood, "What the hell was that just now?"

Kirito stared at him tiredly, "Do I have to tell you?"

Klein nods firmly, "Of course! I've never seen anything like it!"

Kirito sighs and looks away, "It's an extra skill. Duel Wield."

The members of Fuurinkazan gasp, and Klein leans forward in excitement, "How do you activate it?"

Kirito sighs again, "If I knew, I'd tell you."

Klein opened his menu and quickly navigated to a note, then began scrolling through it, "It's not even on the into brokers' list… So it's just yours? A Unique Skill? You're so antisocial, Kirito! Why would you keep quiet about such an awesome Skill?"

Kirito shrugs, "About a year ago, Duel Wield just showed up in my Skill window. But if anyone found out I had this ability…"

Klein rubbed at his jaw thoughtfully, "Online gamers are an envious bunch. I'm a pretty virtuous guy, but I can see why they'd be jealous." Then he grinned, "But well, just consider hardship as another part of training and keep working hard, kiddo"

Kirito stares at him in shock for a moment, then looks away, "Oh, please…"

Klein huffs, then moves on, "Are you going to activate the next portal?"

Kirito shakes his head, "No, you can do it. I'm exhausted."

Klein nods seriously, "Ok. Then you just make sure you get back safely." He begins to walk off, then pauses, "Umm… Kirito? When you jumped in to help the Army guys…"

Kirito tilts his head, "What about it?"

Klein still has his back to them, but rubs at his eyes in a rather telling manner, "How should I put it? I was happy. Anyway, see you around."

He waves over his shoulder and leaves.

Hanna shakes her head with a small smile. _Boys_.

Asuna suddenly speaks up, "I'm going to take a break from the KOB."

Kirito gives her a startled look, "Huh? For what?"

Asuna sighs as she looks away, "Did you forget already? I said I'd party with you guys."

After a moment, Kirito nods, "Alright."

Hanna frowns, "As much as I'd enjoy having Asuna around, I don't think Heathcliff will let her go for even that without a fight. He's already shown to have an interest in Kirito and I due to our strength, now that Kirito has finally revealed his Dual Wielding…."

Asuna suddenly frowns, "... I'm sorry for causing you trouble. Forget it, I'll just-"

Hanna huffs, "Don't be silly Asuna. I would've thought you'd learned this morning that Kirito and I will fight for our friends, for you. Besides, like I said, he _already_ had an interest in us, this will just make it come to a head. I wasn't saying you should go, I was just saying we're probably going to have another fight on our hands before all is said and done. We need to be careful until things have settled a bit."

Maybe it was because they were in a boss room, but the warning sounded far more ominous than she'd intended. It drew weary but determined nods from her companions. All they could do was try to prepare as best they could for what was to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1): Yes, I know Klein is actually 24 at this point in canon, but for my personal piece of mind, I'm changing it.
> 
> (2): I should not need to explain this term, anyone familiar with games should at least understand this, but I realize not all of you may be familiar with games so I'll explain anyway. The Zerg are one of the three playable races in StarCraft, because of the way they swarm enemies and rely on numbers to overwhelm opponents, the term 'Zerg' is sometimes used by gamers to refer to low-level gamers who depend on overwhelming numbers. The term is usually used for online strategy games and the like, but it's not exclusive to them.


	24. Attack of the Knights of the Blood

October 19th, 2024- 714 days since SAO launch:

Hanna and Kirito were taking refuge in the back of Agil's shop. All morning, Kirito had been harassed about his Dual Wield Skill. Eventually, they'd been forced to flee their own home just to get away from the crowd of players. Hanna didn't even know how they knew where they lived, but Argo had agreed to try and find out. Whoever told those people was going to be in for a world of hurt when she got her hands on them.

Beside her, Kirito sighed tiredly, then propped his face up on one of his hands. Agil sat across from them, and he suddenly began to read the newsletter he had open out loud, "'The blue demon that killed an entire Army squad was taken down by one guy's dual-bladed fifty slash combo.' What do you know? You actually made the news!"

He laughed at that. Kirito didn't even glance at him, "That's exaggerated. And I've been getting chased around all morning by swordsman and info brokers as a result."

Lizbeth, who was apparently also hiding at Agil's, shook her head, "I don't want to hear it. I had to make a break for it too, you know? Apparently some people decided your sword had to have been a big part of how you beat that boss, and they somehow found out _I_ was the one who forged your «Dark Repulser». Don't get me wrong, that's _great_ for business, but it got so bad that I couldn't even take down orders anymore with all the people shouting at me! I had to leave the shop to the NPC!"

Hanna tilts her head at Lizbeth, "What about the orders you couldn't take? They'll keep hounding you until they get their weapons."

Lizbeth sighs, "Well, thankfully, people can still put in a custom order to the NPC. If they mention it, a menu will pop up in front of them for them to put what they want and their information into. I'll receive them as Note items when I get back. That's not actually what I'm concerned about. I may be a Master Smith, but one of the key factors to why «Dark Repulser» is so strong is that I had a _fantastic_ material to make it with. In case you're forgetting though, Kirito and I had to actually go out and retrieve the material ourselves because I didn't have anything that good lying around. How am I supposed to make weapons that will satisfy these people if I don't even have the materials I need for it?"

Kirito finally stops frowning at the wall and turns to her, "Well, given that Hanna and I apparently need to make ourselves scarce, we could go material hunting for you."

Hanna quickly adds, "For a fee of course. I like you Lizbeth, and you're our friend, but we all know you'd make a killing off of _any_ weapons that come even remotely close to Dark Repulser. You just don't see that kind of quality in player made weapons often. Usually your best bet if you want a sword like that is to hope to get lucky with a drop or go on a quest."

Lizbeth grins, "Well of course! It's not like I'd cheat my friends or anything! Hmm, how about… 10%?"

Hanna snorts, "25 at least."

Lizbeth narrows her eyes, "12."

Hanna shrugs, "I'm not the one who _needs_ us to do this. Kirito and I could just as easily make ourselves scarce questing or going through sub-dungeons. 20%."

Lizbeth thinks it over, "15." Hanna opens her mouth to try and counter that, but Lizbeth quickly adds, " **And** I'll make you a Falcata better than the one you currently have for free."

Hanna narrows her eyes, "Smithing is mostly luck based. You can't guarantee it will be better than my current one."

Lizbeth nods, "It _is_ luck based, but you can smelt a weapon down at least once without high risk of losing the material, so if I mess up I'll just use that material for something else."

Hanna thinks it over for a moment, then glances at Kirito who just shrugs. Turning back to Lizbeth, she nods, "You've got yourself a deal. 15% and a better Falcata than my current one."

Lizbeth beams, "Great! Then-"

She's abruptly cut off by Asuna rushing around the corner. She pauses for a moment to lean against the door frame and catch her breath, though it was actually just a reflexive action since they didn't need to breath in SAO, then she looks up at them, "What do we do now, you guys? This has gotten completely out of hand!"

Hanna stands up and quickly moves over to her, grabbing onto one of the shoulders of the clearly distressed girl, Hanna gently guides her to a chair, "Whoa, calm down Asuna. What's wrong?"

Asuna takes a few deep breaths, obviously trying to follow her advice and calm herself, then looks turns back to her, "It's the commander. He wants to talk to Kirito, and he said some things that implied I'd lose even _more_ of my freedom."

Hanna scowls, "That's ridiculous! I'm telling you, you should just-" She cuts of as an idea strikes her, "... Actually, I think I might just have an idea for how to get you out of that guild, without just straight up leaving…"

Asuna gives her a hopeful look, "Really?"

Hanna nods, then gives her a serious look, "Yes. If it works, no one should even realize you've left the guild, so it's not like they can say no due to how it will affect their reputation. Actually, if anything it might improve it. However, Heathcliff has made it clear he won't let you go easily, Asuna. If this is going to work, we're going to need to pressure him…"

Asuna gives her a confused look for a moment, then suddenly seems to understand, "Let me guess. By making him think I'm going to leave the guild one way or another and that therefore your idea is his best option. Right?"

Hanna nods, "Exactly right."

Asuna worries her lower lip, then nods hesitantly, "Ok… I can't do it anymore anyway, if this can get me out… I'll do it."

Hanna smiles, "Alright. Then let's go have this talk with Heathcliff that he's so eager for. While we're heading over there, I'm gonna need to message someone, so please try not to let me walk into anything if I get _too_ distracted."

That wouldn't happen no matter how distracted she was, not with the way Uncle Vergil and Grandpa had drilled _**constant**_ situational and spatial awareness into her. No, it and the dry tone she used was more to lighten Asuna's mood, which it achieved, giggling Asuna nods in assent, "Yeah. I can do that."

Hanna nods, "Excellent. Then let's get going, shall we? We've a date with a Knight."

Heading out of the shop, she opens her menu and scrolls over to the messaging tab. She really did need to make sure her idea would was ok with the others she planned to involve, after all.

* * *

Heathcliff studies Kirito in interest, "Is this the first time we've met outside of boss battles, Kirito?"

Kirito tilts his head briefly, "No. We talked briefly during the strategic meeting for clearing the 67th floor, Commander Heathcliff."

Heathcliff closes his eyes, clearly remembering, "That was a hard fight indeed. We barely even made it. I know people call us the top guild, but our forces are at their limits. And here you are, trying to draw away one of our most important players."

Asuna started to step forward and say something, but Kirito stopped her as he stared Heathcliff down, "If she's that important to you, you should've chosen her bodyguard more carefully."

Heathcliff seemed unfazed, only supporting Hanna's suspicion, "I should apologize for the trouble that Kuradeel caused. But even then, we won't just sit back and watch you walk away with one of our vice commanders." Hanna was about to say something, but before she could, Heathcliff continued, "Kirito, fight me with your Dual Wield. If you win, you can take Asuna with you. But if you lose, you must join the Knights of the Blood."

He finished with a tiny smirk, clearly believing to have them trapped. Hanna was more than happy to burst his bubble, "No."

Finally a crack appeared in his perfect composure as shock took over his features for a split second, "I'm sorry?"

Hanna narrows her eyes at him, "I said no. You are not pressuring my husband, and therefore me, into joining your guild. If fact, by the end of today, one way or another, Asuna will no longer be under your command."

Heathcliff frowns at her, "And what makes you think I'll let her go."

Hanna gives Asuna an encouraging glance, and she swallows thickly, before straightening with a stubborn look, "It's not up to you. I _**am**_ leaving. I told Hanna as such this morning, after our meeting. I'm tired of the way this guild is changing, tired of its oppressive atmosphere, tired of you constantly taking more and more of my freedom away!"

Hanna eye Heathcliff, "Like when you picked Kuradeel, someone you must have known to have a superiority complex and a hatred for us Beaters, as Asuna's guard."

Heathcliff grew very still at that, and staring her down, delicately said, "I don't know what exactly you are attempting to imply, but from the sound of it, I can assure you that you've made incorrect assumptions."

She didn't believe him for a second, and it was clear her companions didn't either, if the way understanding followed by fury washed over both of their faces. Asuna took an angry step forward, "You- You were spying on me?! Then Kuradeel really _did_ have orders to watch my house!" Then her eyes narrowed, "There are plenty of people in the guild who would follow such questionable orders as long as they came from you. You choose Kuradeel for a reason. Why…" Suddenly she took a sharp breath, "You _**knew**_ he'd clash with Hanna and Kirito! What exactly were you hoping to achieve?!"

One of the council members gave her a sharp look, "That is _enough_ Asuna! These ridiculous accusations-"

Asuna glares at him, "Shut up." Clearly unused to being spoken to so harshly, he does exactly that. Asuna turns her furious gaze to Heathcliff, "You-! I _trusted_ you! I guess I should've known better, given that you've _already_ _ **lied**_ to me. You told me when I joined that I could leave whenever I wanted, and now you continually put more and more restrictions on me to stop exactly that! I shouldn't even let Hanna give you her ultimatum! I should just leave right now!"

Heathcliff raises his hands in a placating gesture, but before he can say anything another member of his council angrily snaps at Asuna, "Do you want to make an enemy of the KOB?!"

Asuna begins to open her mouth to snap something back, but Hanna lays a hand on her arm, "Calm down Asuna. You _**are**_ leaving this guild, but there's no reason to leave in a way that will make your life difficult." Asuna takes a step back to be even with her and Kirito again, taking a deep breath before nodding tightly. Hanna turns her sharp gaze back to Heathcliff and his council, "Here is what is going to happen. Asuna is going to _quietly_ resign from the KOB, and join a guild affiliated with it. As an agility player, she would do extremely well labyrinth mapping. Given the training you gave them to help them join the front lines, the Moonlit Black Cats are often considered a sub-guild to your own. They have already agreed to take Asuna under the guise of the KOB wanting to bolster an associated guild. Asuna will continue to participate in boss meetings and fights as a member of the KOB, but you will no longer have _any_ jurisdiction over her. That is your _**only**_ option bar Asuna simply leaving. Take it or leave it."

There was a beat of silence, then Heathcliff sighs, "... Very well. We will agree to these terms under two conditions." Asuna began to angrily protest, but Heathcliff held up a hand, "Hear me out. These aren't difficult conditions, and in fact they line up with the terms you already gave us. The first is simply something I wish to clarify. Given that we don't go around announcing when someone joins or leaves the guild, you're well aware we identify members by having them dye their gear white and red as a uniform of sorts. To make sure people believe the ruse of Asuna remaining in the guild, she will continue to wear the uniform so that people will continue to identify her as a member of the KOB." Asuna nods in reluctant agreement at that, so Heathcliff turns to Kirito, "I still wish to duel you and see your skill for myself, even if it's no longer your membership into the guild on the line. I propose we hold a public duel in the arena. Anyone who might otherwise check our member records, such as the reporters for the newsletter, would be distracted by such a grand spectacle. Thus allowing Asuna to leave _very_ quietly."

Kirito shifts awkwardly. He _hated_ attention from crowds, and what Heathcliff was proposing would have a very _large_ crowd focused entirely on him. That said, Hanna knows there's a _lot_ he'd do to help a friend, so she's unsurprised when he sighs, then nods, "Alright."

Heathcliff nods lightly, "Excellent. The primary settlement of the 75th floor, Collinia, has an arena. Given that the floor was just unlocked there will be many players going there for sightseeing. If we hold it there, it will draw an even larger crowd, and thus more possible attention away from Asuna."

Hanna glances away with a sigh, "... If you really want to use this distraction, it would be better to invite the strongest of the front liners to hold a tournament. You could say you want to celebrate reaching the final quarter milestone before we beat the game, or that you want to bolster the other players faith that the front liners can make that final push to freedom with a show of strength, or something like that anyway…."

Heathcliff tilts his head, "An excellent idea. Very well, we shall hold a tournament. Kirito, you are still participating, yes? Everyone knows about your Unique Skill now, we can't truly say we've invited the strongest players without you."

Kirito sighs again, "Yes. I'll be there."

Heathcliff smiles lightly, "Then I hope to see you in the final duel." His smile fades and a small frown takes its place, "If you three have nothing else to add, I suppose you should get going. Asuna needs to get acquainted with her new guild after all."

The three of them glanced between one another, then Asuna shook her head, "No, that's all. We'll be leaving now."

With a faint smile, likely at her new freedom, she turns and begins to walk out, Kirito only a couple steps behind her. Hanna turns as well, but waits until her companions have almost reached the end of the hallway, before addressing Heathcliff without turning, "I meant it when I said Asuna would be outside of your control in the Moonlit Black Cats, Heathcliff. I am not afraid to pick a fight with your guild, and I'm not nearly as nice as Asuna or Kirito. Stay away from the Moonlit Black Cats and Asuna."

With her warning delivered, she calmly follows after her mate and friend. As she's walking away, she hears one of the council members begin to hiss, "Just who does that uppity little Beater think she-"

That's as far as he gets before Heathcliff cuts him off, "As a warrior, something you learn is how to tell when someone is all talk or can't carry out their threats. I can assure you, she meant what she said." There was a brief pause, "The KOB will stay away from Asuna and the Moonlit Black Cats from now on, except for official business."

With a satisfied smile, she turns the corner then picks up her pace to catch up with her mate and friend.

* * *

Mike and Hermione were making their way back to Hogwarts. They'd gone down to Hogsmeade, seeing as it was the first trip of the school year, but after briefly visiting Honeydukes, the bookshop, and The Three Broomsticks, they'd decided to call it a day and hurry back to the castle before the weather could get any worse.

As they were getting close to the gate, his keen ears picked up arguing up ahead, "-acting really weird! It's freaking me out! You were fine until you came back from the bathroom with that stupid package!"

"Leave it be Leanne! It's none of your _business_! Now knock it off before I hex you!"

Mike's brow furrowed as he recognized the second voice as Katie Bell's. He hesitates briefly, then begins running to catch up with them, ignoring Hermione's confused question for the moment. Katie arguing with her friend was none of his business, but… but she _was_ his teammate, and he'd loosely use the term friend. He'd never heard her talk to her friends like that, no matter how angry she was, and there was something… off about the way she was speaking. It was likely just a particularly heated argument, but in these times... Well, you could never be too careful.

Reaching the girls, he sees Katie's friend grab her arm roughly and yank Katie around to face her, "I'm not joking! You're starting to scare me Katie! I- I'll report this to McGonagall unless you give a reason not to!"

Katie tries to pull her arm free harshly, "Let go of me! I don't owe you any sort of explanation!"

After a moment of struggling to break free without dropping the small package in her hands, she lifts her head to glare at Leanne, giving Mike a good look at her face for the first time. Without hesitation, he whips his wand out and stuns her. Leanne whirls around as she draws her own wand, already pointing it at him before she realizes who it is, "Potter?"

Irritation spikes through him at that hated name, but he ignores it, given the more pressing concern. He'd pointed his wand up and held up his other hand in a placating manner as she'd begun to turn, and with her wand still pointed unsurely at him he doesn't dare move to much just yet, "Easy there." He gestures towards Katie with his head, "I don't know if you noticed that faint gleam in her eyes, but for future reference, it's an obvious sign of the Imperius amateurs of the spell leave on their victims."

The girl's weariness disappears, replaced by distress, "Oh dear Merlin! I- I thought she was acting really weird, and I began to suspect, but-"

She cuts herself off as she begins crying. A slightly out of breath Hermione catches up with him at that point, quickly taking in the scene she hurries over to the girl, wrapping her arms around her on comfort, she shoots Mike a questioning look. He sighs, "I heard them arguing. Katie sounded… _weird_ , so I got worried. She was under a rather armature amateur Imperius, so I stunned her."

Hermione nods faintly, "It's Leanne right? Leanne Aubrey? You're a Hufflepuff in our year, aren't you?" Leanne nods shakily, so Hermione continues, "It's alright Leanne. Mike just stunned her, she'll be fine, we just need to get her to Madame Pomfrey."

Leanne just nods, and Mike sighs as he moves towards them, "We need to take that package with us. Katie was _very_ determined to take it to the castle, so I don't really _want_ to know what's in it, but we can't just leave something that's possibly dangerous lying around."

Hermione frowns down at the package in question, "Be careful, it looks like it ripped."

Mike huffs, "Like I wouldn't have done that anyway."

Tilting his head, he glances between the package and Katie for a moment, then sighs again. The package was small enough that his scarf could wrap around it, but seeing as he needed to carry Katie, that left either Hermione or Leanne to carry the package, and he didn't want to risk either of them touching it. With that in mind, he shrugs his cloak off, then carefully wraps it around the package as many times as possible, before holding it out to Hermione. She shifts so she has one arm wrapped around Leanne, then warily takes the now larger package.

Bending down, he delicately picks Katie up, shifting her in his arms until he's cradling her to him gently. Honestly, he really didn't want to do this. Not because he didn't want to help Katie, but because he was terrified of hurting her with his still relatively new strength. It was ridiculous, seeing as his grandfather had made _sure_ he had firm control over his strength. Despite that, he couldn't banish the fear as the three of them set off towards the castle at a brisk pace. She just seemed so _**fragile**_ , a trait he'd never associated with her before.

He's pulled from his thoughts as they round a bend in the lane, and spot Hagrid up ahead. Hagrid begins to smile as he sees him and Hermione, but it's clear he notices the other two a only a second later as the forming smile immediately shifts into a look of worry and he hurries towards them, but he doesn't stop them, not with a student potentially injured, merely falls into step next to Mike, though whereas Mike was using a brisk pace, Hagrid could just walk normally, given his enormous size and strides, "What happened?"

Mike doesn't slow down even a bit, "She was Imperiused, so I had to stun her. Amateur job though, easy to spot. She was _very_ keen to deliver a package though, Hermione's got it wrapped in my cloak. Listen, I need to get her to Madame Pomfrey, and Leanne probably needs a Calming Draught, but we need to turn that package over to McGonagall. She'll probably want to check on Katie anyway, so can you go ahead of us and tell her what's going on?"

Hagrid nods, then quickens his pace, quickly disappearing into the castle. The infirmity is only on the third floor, it's not far, and Hogwarts tends to shorten the distance for people anyway, but with the admittedly irrational terror of hurting Katie, it seems to take forever to reach their destination. When they _finally_ get there, McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey are already waiting for them.

Without hesitation, Madame Pomfrey gestures to one of the beds, "Just set her there and I'll look her over." Glancing briefly at Hermione, she gestures to the bed next to the one he gingerly sets Katie on, "Sit her friend down there, I'll come over to give her Calming Draught in a minute."

With Pomfrey finished administering orders, McGonagall finally speaks, "Where is this package that seems to have caused so much trouble?"

Hermione holds out his cloak, "Mike wrapped it in this, Professor. It looked like it had torn open, and we didn't want to risk it anyway."

McGonagall nods, "Wise of you." She conjures a small table, "Set it down."

Hermione carefully sets it down, then quickly backs away. With a flick of her wand, McGonagall levitates the package, unwraps the cloak from it, and cautiously levitates the torn package off of the item, revealing a deceivingly beautiful opal necklace. Mike jolts at the sight of it, "I've seen that before! It was in Borgin and Burkes four years ago!"

Hermione, Madame Pomfrey, and McGonagall all give him strange looks, then McGonagall raises an eyebrow at him, "And _why_ , exactly, were you in Borgin and Burkes four years ago Mr. Sparda?"

Mike blushes in embarrassment, "We were going to get my school supplies, but I'd come down with a cold. I was really congested so when we went to floo there instead of Diagon Alley, it came out sounding more like diagonally. That's where I was spit out. I was just going to leave, but then I saw the Malfoy's and I sorta panicked and hid. _Anyway_ , the tag on it said it was cursed, it killed 19 Muggles."

McGonagall presses her lips into a thin line, "I see. Then Miss Bell, and whoever it was meant to be delivered to are quite lucky you stopped her before anything could happen."

Madame Pomfrey speaks up at that moment, "What I don't understand is how someone managed to put her under the Imperius and give it to her without anyone noticing. It's the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year, the town would've been packed with students."

Leanne suddenly spoke up, startling them, "She went to the bathroom when we were at The Three Broomsticks, she had it when she came back."

Mike noted with relief that she was rather calm now, he assumed Madame Pomfrey had given her a Calming Draught while they were figuring out what was in the package. McGonagall took a sharp breath in, fury filling her eyes, "Someone attacked one of _my_ lions in the _bathroom_? Tried to force them to take part in _**murder**_?!" She suddenly conjured a box and levitates the necklace into it, "I am taking this to Madame Bones herself, it is _far_ too dangerous to do anything less. Rest assured, I will be having a talk with her about investigating this matter. I _**will**_ get to the bottom of this." She looks her students over, "Until then, no one is to go _anywhere_ alone. Not even to the bathroom." She began to march angrily out of the hospital wing, then pauses, "Oh, and twenty points to Gryffindor Mr. Sparda."

With that, she's gone. Sharing a glance with Hermione, they turn to Madame Pomfrey, who gives them a reassuring smile, "Don't you worry you two, Miss Bell will be fine, and Minerva will get to the bottom of this mess. Why don't you two do me a favor and escort Miss Aubrey down to lunch. I need to contact Miss Bell's parents."

Mike and Hermione share another glance, neither of them quite wanted to leave Katie, but they both knew very well that when Madame Pomfrey decided it was time for you to go, you had best be going. With reluctant nods, the three of them left. Mike glanced behind them one last time as they leave. He feels his demonic powers respond to his fury, straining to burst out. Whoever did this was going to pay dearly.

* * *

October 20th, 2024- 715 days since SAO launch:

Hanna waves to Asuna, Lizbeth, and the Moonlit Black Cats when she sees them, as they'd agreed to meet up outside of the arena so they could sit together. Argo and Agil had joined her while she'd been waiting, and Asuna greets them before turning to look at the crowd, "Wow, I knew there would probably be quite a few people who showed up to watch, but I didn't think there'd be _this_ many!"

Hanna nods, "You're telling me, you guys might want to hurry up and buy tickets, or they might just sell out."

Keita gives her a startled look, "Tickets? Since when do you need tickets to enter an arena?"

Argo shrugs, "Since the start of the game. The only reason no one's had to do that before is because no one has officially booked an event at an arena. Apparently, it was too good of an opportunity to make money for the guild to pass up. Not that I can blame them. I'd definitely have done the same if I was in their place."

Asuna frowns, "But it's not just the KOB who has members participating. They can't just keep all of the money themselves!"

"They're not." Turning, they see Klein approach with Fuurinkazan, "They're giving a cut to every guild that participates depending on how many people in that guild are taking part in the tournament today, and how far each of their participants get. The two semi-finalists that don't make it are getting a larger cut, and the runner up and winner are getting even more. Which makes sense, but I'm kinda bummed out about it. It would've been nice to get the kind of money the semi-finalists are gonna get."

Hanna raises an eyebrow, "What? Don't think you'll make it that far? That's not like you Klein."

He laughs, "It's true that normally I would be confident in my skills, but I _know_ I can't beat Kirito, and I'm fairly certain I can't beat Heathcliff either. Not that the latter matters. The participants already drew lots to determine the who would fight who. I'll be going up against Kirito _just_ before the semi-finals."

Asuna gives him a sympathetic smile, "That sucks Klein. But hey! At least you'll probably get that far at least! No one would think less of you for losing to Kirito. Or, not anyone you know anyway."

Klein nods, "Yeah, I suppose so. Anyway! What's this about you not participating?"

Asuna glances at the Moonlit Black Cats, "Uhh… Just... personal reasons."

Hanna shakes her head at the terrible evasion. Asuna had chosen to opt out so she could continue getting to know her new guild better, so the reason she gave Klein was completely true, just not said in a very believable manner. It was obvious that Klein knew there was more to it, but he seemed unsure if he should push.

Before he could come to a decision, or anyone could comment on it for that matter, Hanna was suddenly slammed into from behind with an excited cry, "Hanna-nee!"

Hanna turns with a smile, "Silica! What are you doing here?"

The young beast tamer beams in excitement at her, "I heard there was going to be a tournament between the strongest front liners today, and I figured you and Kirito-nii would be participating! I came to watch you guys fight!"

Hanna shakes her head with a smile at the excitable girl, "Well, Kirito's fighting, but I'm not."

Silica tilts her head in confusion, "Eh? Why not?! Hanna-nee's _really_ strong! You'd totally win!"

Hanna laughs at her firm statement, "Maybe. Depends on if I could beat Kirito. But I didn't particularly feel like fighting him, even if it's just a friendly match. It seemed wrong. Besides, I've got some gear the DDA's been pressuring me about, and while I don't really care about their little fits whenever they find out they're not in possession of particularly strong equipment, I saw no reason to increase the heat on Kirito and myself."

Silica nods in understanding of the first part, then scowls at the mention of the DDA, " _Oooh_ , I can't _stand_ those guys! They usually leave us mid-level players alone, but every now and then someone comes across something and gets beat up for it. They're just _bullies_!"

Hanna nods, "Most of them are, but a couple of them are alright."

Silica looks unsure, but nods anyway, "If Hanna-nee says so." Then, she finally seems to notice Hanna's company. Turning bright red she hides behind Hanna, hissing at her, "Hanna-nee! That's Lightning Flash Asuna! What are you doing with her?!"

Hanna laughs, "She's my friend, Silica. It's natural to go to events with friends, isn't it?"

"I suppose so…" Peeking out still beat red, she waves shyly at Asuna, "Hi."

Asuna smiles warmly down at her, "Hi! I'm Asuna, but you clearly already know that. It's Silica right?" Silica nods hesitantly, and Asuna's smile widens, "It's nice to meet you Silica! Since you seem to be friends with Hanna and Kirito, I suppose we'll be sitting together. What do you say we go get our tickets and find a seat before all the good ones are taken?"

Silica gives another hesitant nod, but smile a bit this time, "Ok."

Asuna nods, "Great, let's get going then!"

As they make their way over to buy tickets, Klein calls after them, "Oi! Make sure to save me a seat, since I'm going to get knocked out by Kirito before the semi-finals and all!"

Hanna laughs, "Like you need to worry about that! Your guildmates would obviously save you a spot! If I were you, I'd just focus on your upcoming fight with Kirito. If you're going to lose, try to at _least_ make yourself look good and put up a good fight."

Klein huffs lightly, "I'll certainly try my best!"

* * *

Hanna watches with a small smile as Kirito defeats Corona, the incredibly arrogant assault leader of the DDA, thus making his way to the finals.

Laughter draws her attention to her left, and her smile widens as she sees Asuna laughing happily with her new guildmates and Lizbeth. She'd been a bit worried that Asuna might be annoyed with her for just shoving her into another guild without even asking, but she hadn't. Asuna fit in surprisingly well. She had taken over as the second forward for Sasamaru, who had happily gone back to using a spear. Plus, Asuna made sure they were focused, and they made sure she relaxed. It was a cozy balance in the now complete party of six. Asuna glances over at her at that point, giving her a wide happy smile, then turns away as Ducker leans forward from his spot behind her to say something with a mischievous grin. Whatever it is startles another laugh from her, before she elbows him lightly with a grin.

To her right, Silica giggles before murmuring to her, "I've always heard Asuna was rather uptight, but she really isn't, is she?"

Hanna smiles at her, leaning over slightly to quietly say, "Actually, she used to be a no nonsense slave driver, but then Kirito and I brainwashed her to the crazy Beater way of life."

Silica giggled again, then suddenly became excited as she pointed down at the arena, saying a bit loudly, "Look! Kirito-nii is fighting Heathcliff now!"

Hanna turns back to the arena with a grin, saying in a more normal volume, "Guess they're starting the finals then. Let's cheer him on!"

Silica nods happily, and she receives noises of agreement from her other side, and from behind her where the members of Fuurinkazan were sitting. On the other side of Silica, she hears Argo attempting to make a bet with Agil, "Thousand col says Kirito wins.'

Agil however, simply laughs at that, "I'm not foolish enough to bet against Kirito!"

Argo pouts, "Mou, you're no fun Agil. He _could_ lose you know? Heathcliff is considered the strongest player in Aincrad."

Agil snorts, "Only because most people refuse to recognize Kirito and Hanna's strength. Either because they feel they cheated to get it, or because they feel they're to _crazy_ to rightfully count on any list."

Hanna smiles, pausing in her cheering to say, "I suppose we'll just have to see, now won't we."

She had faith in her mate, but Heathcliff's Unique Skill, «Holy Sword», was said to have an impenetrable defence. The only time anyone had ever seen him injured was when he was attacking. It would really come down to whether Kirito could get through Heathcliff's admittedly impressive defence. Down in the arena, Heathcliff says something as he looks around, causing Kirito to glance around at the crowd as well as he responds.

Upon turning to them, her friends shouts grow louder. Lizbeth nearly drowns the rest of them out with her shout of, "You better kick that uppity bastard's ass, Kirito!"

Silica is far more encouraging than demanding, "You can do it Kirito-nii!"

Klein, who had in fact joined them just before the semifinals, and was sitting right behind her shouts, "You better not lose right after you knocked me out of the tournament!"

Hanna just gives him an encouraging smile. Though it was doubtful he could hear any of them over the excited roar of the crowd, it was clear he had an idea of what they were saying with the way he grinned at them. A moment later, he turned back to Heathcliff as he receives the duel invite, and quickly manipulates the dual menu. A moment later the countdown appears, and they both turn their undivided attention onto one another as they draw their swords.

They both tensely wait for the countdown to end, and as soon as it does, Kirito rushes Heathcliff. As he begins his assault, Hanna notices he isn't attacking nearly as fast as he could, instead he seems to be focusing on attacking Heathcliff from various angles. It's clear to her that he's testing Heathcliff's legendary defense, seeing how well he reacts to various attacks. Abruptly Heathcliff pushes his shield forward, then lunges to attack with his sword, but Kirito easily jumps away. Heathcliff rushes Kirito, and Hanna notices him bringing his shield up. It only takes her a moment to realize what he's about to do, and she grins. That may have worked on Kirito under different circumstances, but Kirito was used to keeping up with her, there was no way it would work.

She was almost immediately proven right when Heathcliff reached Kirito, thrusting his shield towards Kirito's gut. Instead of connecting though, Kirito smoothly ducked under the attack, scoring a heavy slash across Heathcliff's own abdomen as he passed.

Both of them quickly turned to each other, though Heathcliff seemed a bit shocked. They paused, and Heathcliff said something. Whatever it is, it draws a small smile from Kirito as he responds. For a moment they stare each other down, then they burst into motion. Kirito beginning an unrelenting assault, and Heathcliff using the few opportunities he receives to attack.

Finally, after almost a minute of this, Kirito manages to slip through Heathcliff's defence, scoring a small hit on his cheek. Heathcliff's eyes widen momentarily, before narrowing as he switches almost entirely to defence. Kirito immediately capitalizes as he strains Heathcliff's defence, attacking with a skill as fast as he can.

For a moment, Heathcliff seems to be able to handle the skill, then Kirito's superior speed gets him, as he isn't _quite_ fast enough to shift his shield into position to block one of the hits, causing it to be pushed out of the way, leaving him wide open for the final hit of Kirito's skill. Even as Kirito's blade descends on his head, and Heathcliff quickly begins to pull his shield back into position, something seemed… _**off**_. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something strange about how Kirito and Heathcliff moved in relation to each other as Heathcliff barely brings his shield up in time to deflect the blow before stabbing Kirito in the side, knocking him into the yellow and winning the dual.

Around her and her friends, the crowds cheers reached an all time high, but they were all stunned into silence. After a moment, Agil broke the silence, saying with total surprise, "... Maybe I should've taken that bet after all."

Hanna narrows her eyes as she stands, gazing at Kirito sitting on the ground with a vaguely confused look before he turns to her, a silent question in his eyes, "No. While I will accept that Kirito isn't infallible and _can_ lose, there was something _weird_ about that."

Without another word, she turns, quickly making her way out of the arena and to the nearby restaurant she and Kirito and agreed to meet at so they didn't have to try and find each other in the crowd that would soon make its way out of the arena. Her friends follow in confused silence, and none of them say anything as they order food while they wait.

Five minutes later, a still confused looking Kirito sits next to her. Without hesitation, she turns to her mate, "What was _that_? Something weird happened at the end there, and for the life of me, I can't put my finger on what it was!"

Her words seem to simultaneously bring Kirito relief and confuse him even more, "Than it wasn't just me." He looks away, clearly trying to gather his thoughts as he orders food. A few moments later, he turns back to her, "I really don't know what happened. One moment I was about to hit Heathcliff with my Skill, the next it was… I don't _know_ , it was almost like I was frozen and couldn't move. I could _see_ Heathcliff bringing his shield up, but I _couldn't_ _**move**_."

Argo narrows her eyes, but trusts them enough that she doesn't question them, "So, what? He cheated? _**How**_?"

Kirito shrugs helplessly, "I don't know."

Asuna worries her lip in thought, then hesitantly offers her own thoughts on the matter, "Maybe it's part of his «Holy Sword»? A Skill of some sort?"

Hanna shakes her head, "Then why haven't we seen it before? Almost all of us have fought with Heathcliff in boss raids. Don't you think we would've noticed?"

Klein shrugs, "Maybe. Maybe not. We've only ever seen him fight in raids before. I don't know about you guys, but I was always more focused on the boss then how Heathcliff fights, and it's not like we could've asked the bosses if they've ever experienced something like Kirito just did."

Hanna doesn't buy that explanation. It just doesn't seem _right_. She glances over at Kirito to find him gazing at her. It's clear he doesn't believe it either, but with a small shake off his head, she drops it. For now. The more she learns about Heathcliff, the less the world she's come to know makes sense. She doesn't like it. Not one bit.

She's pulled from her thoughts as Asuna clears her throat, "Well, Heathcliff's questionable win aside, I've been thinking about moving out of Selmburg. I kinda want to move away from the large towns in general. Anyone know a good place?"

Kirito turns to her, "If your wanting to get away from big cities, I know of a lovely little cabin on the 22nd floor. It's in a grass field surrounded by the forest, but it's on a hill, so you get a fantastic view of the main lake. It's about a twenty minute walk from the nearest teleport gate, that said, the pathway winds through the forest and by the lake, and mobs rarely spawn there, so even the walk is peaceful. Honestly, while it's not exactly _hot_ on the 22nd floor, Hanna and I were looking for somewhere with a cooler climate, otherwise we might've bought that place when we were looking for a house. I don't know if it's still open though."

Asuna smiles, "It sounds lovely. Exactly what I'm looking for. If you and Hanna don't have any plans, I'd appreciate if you could show me where it is."

Hanna returns her smile, "Of course!" Then her smile becomes mischievous, "Though, I guess we're lucky you don't have to worry about spiders or anything in your house, otherwise, I'd be worried about you and Kirito running away screaming like-"

That's as far as she gets before Kirito clamps a hand over her mouth, blushing in embarrassment. Asuna looks about ready to dive over the table to shut her up as well. Klein gives the three of them baffled looks, but Argo leans forward with interest, "Oh? I'm sensing a good story here, your gonna have to tell me some time Hanna."

Kirito shakes his head firmly, "Never gonna happen." Then he pouts at her, "I thought we agreed we'd never speak about _that_ again?"

Hanna gives him a look and he reluctantly removes his hand, then she cheerfully reminds him, " _Actually_ , the only thing we agreed to, was that there would need to be copious amounts of bribery for my silence. Then you two attempted to distract me with food, which only works on _you_ , Kirito, not me." She gives him the most innocent look she can muster, "I just assumed that meant you weren't to worried about me keeping my mouth shut."

Kirito shakes his head emphatically, "No no. No no no no. No. We can talk about this Hanna. Right? _Right?_ You love me don't you? You don't _really_ want to ruin me, right?"

Hanna hums lightly, "Well, I _do_ love you…" Then she grins widely, "Which is why I'll leave it for now and we can discuss payment later, when there _aren't_ eager ears listening."

She gives a pointed look at Argo and Lizbeth, who both grin shamelessly. Kirito takes one look at them and heaves a sigh of relief.

* * *

October 23rd, 2024- 718 days since SAO launch:

Hanna smiles lightly as Kirito enthusiastically rambles about the programming of some of the mobs they'd just fought as they make their way back from the labyrinth. She honestly had _no idea_ what he was talking about, but it was _adorable_. Suddenly she tensed, though she honestly had no idea why, but there was a... _hostility_ in the air. After a moment, Kirito notices that she'd stopped, and begins to turn to her in concern, "Hanna? Is something wr-"

He only gets halfway to facing her before he cuts off and his eyes widen. Just as he opens his mouth to say something, a small dagger slams into the shoulder farthest from her, the force turning him back around before he stumbles and falls on his back. At the same time, something slams into her back, causing her to lose her own footing and fall to the ground on her knees. Almost instantly, the paralysis icon appears next to both her and Kirito's heath bars in the top left of her field of vision, and she's unable to stop herself from falling forward the rest of the way, though not for lack of trying. That turns out to have been a bad idea, as her attempt to catch herself only results in her pinning her right hand, taking what limited mobility she had in that hand and stopping her from accessing her inventory to retrieve a Paralysis Crystal.

For a moment, she watches Kirito struggle to try and open his own menu. It was possible, you only needed a couple inches of mobility to open and manipulate you menu, and there was no true paralysis in the game, likely exactly for the reason of allowing players to retrieve antidotes and crystals like this. However, with the paralysis he was _much_ slower at navigating his menu than usual, and he'd barely gotten to his inventory screen before a boot stomped down on his hand. Both of them lifted their gazes, following the boot up a leg, to a chest, and eventually reached none other than Kuradeel's face.

He was sneering down at Kirito, but there was a viciously triumphant gleam in his eyes that sends a chill down Hanna's spine. She just _knows_ her intuitive feeling regarding him had been even more accurate than she'd originally thought, and suddenly wished she'd been wrong about him.

Before either of them can say anything, Kuradeel shifts his gaze to Hanna and chuckles darkly, "Did you really think I'd let you get away with cheating in that dual, with _humiliating_ me? Guess again." His grin widens slightly, "I'm going to get my revenge on you, _and_ get rid of you filthy Beaters in one fell swoop. What's that saying? Two birds with one stone?"

Hanna stares up at him in shock, "You- You're crazy! You can't just-"

Kuradeel tilts his head, still giving them that creepy grin, "Oh, but I can. It's like PoH says, all of this is Kayaba's fault, so we can do whatever we want."

Kirito inhales sharply, "PoH? You- But you're in the KOB…"

Kuradeel chuckles, "Laughing Coffin isn't an _official_ guild, remember? It's not registered with the system. Which lets those of us that have carefully kept our cursors green join regular guilds. But, that's not important." He pulls his sword from his back, his grin widening as he looked down at Kirito, "I'm going to start with you."

Without hesitation, he brings his sword down in Kirito, who grunts in discomfort.

Panic fills Hanna, and she reaches towards them in desperation, "No! Leave him alone! He hasn't done anything to you! I'm the one who humiliated you, not him!"

Kuradeel grinned at her with dark glee, "I know. That's exactly why him. See, I heard you two are married. Admittedly, I originally just thought it was a matter of convenience, but then I heard it was for _love_." He sneered the last word in disgust, "Which was apparently correct. I _am_ going to kill you for what you did to me." Then that grin returned wider and _crazier_ than ever, "But first, I'm going to make you **watch** while I kill him."

Hanna shook her head widely, tears streaming down her face, "No! _**Please**_! I'll do anything! You can have whatever you want, but _**please**_ , not him! I'm begging you! Alright?! You're better than me, just like you said, and now I'm begging! _**Please!**_ "

Kuradeel stares at her in shock, then that gleeful grin returns and he laughs wildly, "You really have it bad for this kid! I knew it would get to you, but I really didn't expect this!"

Now the tears are falling heavier and faster than they've ever been in her entire life. She can't lose him. She _**can't**_. But she could already see that Kuradeel has only been spurred on by her words. She bites her lip, if it wouldn't save Kirito, she didn't want to give the _bastard_ any more satisfaction than she already has, but against her will sobs and more broken pleas rip themselves out of her chest when he stabs her precious mate again and again.

Hanna watched in horror as Kirito's heath steadily drained, turning yellow. She hadn't thought she could be any more desperate than she already was, but as Kirito's heath bar turns red, her desperation seems to double. Distantly, she just barely feels her demonic power blaze to life for the first time in nearly two years, her angelic powers are gentler, but they're nonetheless _there_ , and her magic is _wild_. Everything in her is chaotic and _**angry**_ , and straining for their mate, even though they aren't bonded, even though he's so very _far_ out of their reach.

For a moment, her powers strain inside her, then suddenly they seem to collapse- no, _fold_ in on themselves, twisting and _compressing_ themselves nearly to nonexistence, and there, right before her, just under her wrist of her still outstretched hand, a ghostly blade appears. But she _**knows**_ that blade, has fought with it almost her entire life, and she's _never_ been so happy to see Shuraba, but she barely has time to register her _wonderful_ blade's ghostly presence before Kirito's heath is dropping dangerously low. So without even thinking it through, she grabs the _oh so familiar_ sword and flings it at Kuradeel to the best of her ability.

She'd been aiming for his head, but in lodges itself into his shoulder instead, and Kuradeel stumbles back with a scream eerily similar to pain. That couldn't be it though, players couldn't- but _oh_ Shuraba wasn't from the game. That's why there were no particle effects, why his health wasn't dropping. It couldn't damage him, because as far as the system was concerned, it _wasn't real_. But. _But_ Kuradeel's _mind_ was here, and the mind was in charge of pain. Her _beautiful wonderful_ blade may not _physically_ be here, but it's connection to her was just as mental as physical. It could still _hurt_ him.

Kuradeel was clutching at her weapon in shock at this point. It was taking a _lot_ out of her to keep it here, but she'd be _damned_ if she let that _bastard_ recover. Thankfully, without his hand pinned, Kirito was pretty quick to retrieve the Crystals he needed and use them on himself. As soon as he began to scramble to his feet, Hanna tiredly let go of her mental hold on her blade, allowing it to disappear as though it had never been there. She'd never taken her blade for granted, but she certainly wouldn't start now. Not after this. She promised herself that as soon as they got out of this hellish world, she'd do maintenance on it. Sharpening it to its limit and polishing it til it _shined_.

She watched wearily as Kirito furiously began to attack the barely recovered Kuradeel. It didn't even take a minute for Kirito to drag the bastards heath into the red, at which point he dropped his weapon, falling to his knees desperately, "No! No please! I'm sorry! I'll turn myself in whatever you want! _Please_!"

That only seemed to make Kirito angrier though, "Tell me, why should I listen to your pleas? You ignored my mate's." A jolt of shock when through Hanna at those words. It was true that on some level, a person always instinctively knew what their soulmate was to them, and the deeper the bond the deeper the instinctual understanding, but it took _decades_ for a bond to reach a level that you'd instinctively think of them as your mate without prior knowledge of what they were to you. So how… Her mind races through this in seconds, before being pulled back to what's going on as Kirito steps towards Kuradeel with a dangerous expression, "My beautiful _precious_ mate laid there _crying_ and _**begging**_ , and you just seemed to grow more _gleeful_ with every sob, every plea, every little bit of her _desperation_. So tell me, _**why the fuck should I not return the favor?!**_ "

Hanna shakily reaches towards them, "Kirito." He partially turns his head towards her, but never removes his furious gaze from Kuradeel. She'd like nothing more than for the _bastard_ to shatter into polygons for what he's tried to do to her mate, but she couldn't stand the thought of Kirito talking another life if he didn't strictly _have_ to, and Kuradeel was surrendering, "Kirito, don't. I'd like him gone just as much as you, if not more, but he's surrendering and you're _better_ then him. Don't let him drag you to his level. Please."

Kirito had been tense throughout what she was saying, but at the last word, he seemed to sag, tiredly sighing, "Fine." Then he glares at Kuradeel, leaning dangerously into his personal space, "You better remember this though. Remember that the only reason you are alive is because of the very woman you tried to hurt, the woman who _humiliated_ you. Remember that, and let it eat at you for the rest of your miserable life."

He turned towards her with a tired expression, and began to make his way to her. Strangely though he didn't sheath his sword, like he was expecting- Her eyes widen and a wordless cry escapes her lips as she notices Kuradeel springing back up with a dagger in hand, _'Stupid, stupid,_ _ **stupid me!**_ _He tried to do almost the exact same thing to me during our dual! Why_ _ **wouldn't**_ _he try it with Kirito?!'_

Her mind had raced through these thoughts quickly, as she tried to open her mouth to warn her mate. However, Kirito was already turning, having been tipped off by her wordless cry. He sidestepped Kuradeel's lunge, then plunged his sword into Kuradeel's chest without hesitation, then sighed tiredly, "... You couldn't just accept her mercy, could you?"

Kuradeel let out a choked noise of disbelief, then burst into polygons. Kirito's sword dropped down to his side again, and for a moment he just stood there, shoulders slumped with the polygons drifting around him. Hanna wanted to sob again. He looked so _defeated_. She just wanted to be home, to wrap up with him in their blanket on their bed and hold him. Like that could make any of this better.

After a moment, he sheathed his sword, "... I'm sorry. You wanted me to-"

Hanna shakes her head, even though he can't see it, "No. It's ok. He didn't give you a choice."

He finally turns back to her, and Hanna wants to cry _again_ , because there's _relief_ in his eyes, like he honestly expected her to be _angry_ at him for what just happened. Without thinking about it, she stretches her hand out towards him, murmuring just one thing, "Kazuto."

Any lingering hesitation fades, and he immediately moves over to her side. Slipping an arm around her waist, he pulls her up and towards him until her back is resting against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder, then opens his menu again. Normally she and Kirito are roughly the same height, but currently with the way she's slumped against him, the top of her head barely reaches his nose. Shakily she struggles to lift an arm. He's so focused on his task of retrieving a Crystal for her, that he doesn't notice until she's managed to place a hand on his cheek. He looks down at her, and he must see something in her expression, as without hesitation he abandons his task to rest his hand over her own.

She swallows thickly, murmuring in a small voice, "I thought I was gonna lose you…"

Kirito presses a chaste kiss to her lips, then rests his forehead against hers, "Never."

Hanna almost wants to smack herself when she feels the tears welling up again, she'd cried enough for quite a while already, but she just can't seem to stop. He'd told her things like this before, and she'd accepted it with ease, but now… "You can't promise that."

Logically, he had to know she was right, but he still doesn't hesitate, "I can. I won't leave you. Not now, not _ever_."

Against her will, a sob escapes. Kirito shushes her, then kisses her gently, as his hand moves away from her own. Given that Crystals require a verbal command, she's not quite sure how he manages it, but a moment later, her paralysis is gone. Without hesitation she throws her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and desperately deepening the kiss.

Kirito gladly wrapped his other arm around her waist, holding her to him as desperately as she was clutching him. For a moment, she was confused, then sorrowful understanding filled her. She pulled back slightly, "... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I made you listen to that earlier…" It could very well have been Kirito's last moments, and she'd made him listen to her fall apart over it. She swallows thickly, "I- I should've been strong for you. I should've-"

Kirito silences her with a brief kiss, "No. It's alright. _I'm_ sorry you had to see that happen to me. If our positions had been reversed…" He trails off briefly and shudders, "I don't think I could've been strong either."

With that out of the way, Kirito pulls her back into another kiss. For a few minutes, Hanna gladly gives herself into just _feeling_ her mate, knowing he's _alive_ and they've made it out of a tough situation one again, but gradually she becomes aware of the fact that she's slowly tilting back. She honestly can't tell if she's leaning back and pulling her mate with her, or if he's gently guiding her down, but either way, if she lets it continue she knows it won't be much longer til she's on her back with Kirito on top of her. And she _knows_ that if that happens, they won't be able to stop. As desperately as she wants her mate at that very moment, she'd rather not it be in the middle of the path to the labyrinth where anyone could come by and see.

With that in mind, she gently straightens them, and pulls away from Kirito. He gives a needy whine and chases after her lips, but she quickly slips a hand between them, gently stopping him with her first two fingers. He finally pulls back, frowning slightly, and she smiles at that just a bit, "Much as I'm just as reluctant to stop, we _are_ kinda in the middle of the road. Besides, to be honest, I just wanna go home, curl up with you, and sleep all day."

Kirito sighs lightly, "Mmm, that sounds like a plan."

Hanna smiles lightly, then rests her head on his shoulder with a sigh, "... Just as soon as I can muster up the will to get up."

* * *

Kirito presses a light kiss to the top of Hanna's head. His eyes drift over to where Kuradeel had been as he holds her. He honestly didn't regret killing him. He should, he _really_ should, but in place of regret there was only Hanna's voice, desperate and broken, pleading and begging and sobbing. His eyes harden. No. He'd never regret killing the bastard. Not with how he'd tormented Hanna like that.

Turning his gaze to the young woman in question, his eyes soften as he takes in her exhausted form. Thinking it over for only a moment, he quickly shifted them, then scooped her into his arms. He smiled lightly at her confused look, "We're both tired, and the sooner we get home, the sooner we can sleep. I'll carry you if you don't feel up to walking."

She blushes lightly, but gives him a small nod before burying her face in his chest.

He presses another kiss to her hair, he'd damn well do his best to keep her from getting hurt again, even if it meant keeping as difficult a promise as he'd given her earlier. He'd do _anything_ to make her happy.


	25. Yui

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn it! Why is it every time I turn around I realize it's been a month or more since I updated?! Fucks sake, I took a small break because I was struggling to get this chapter started, and before I'd even realized how long it had been, it was June and I'd barely gotten the chapter started. I'm so very sorry everyone. I've got absolutely no reason for this, I literally just lost track of the days. Also, I'm just gonna come out and say it, but yes, this is the Yui chapter, but I mostly chose to go with the light novels version of events, which is why some things may seem out of order, why Sasha was introduced differently.

October 30th, 2024- 725 days since SAO launch:

Hanna and Kirito were making their way home when Hanna noticed her, and stopped in her tracks. There, not even 35 feet away was a little girl. Despite the cold climate of the floor, she was wearing nothing more than a white dress. The little girl looked eight, maybe nine years old, yet she was alone, silently staring at them. She took all of this in rapidly, then was pulled from her examination as Kirito turned to look at what had caught her attention and sucked in a sharp breath in disbelief, but she ignored him as she slowly approached the child, gently calling out to her so as to not scare her, "Are you alright sweetie? You're-"

However, that was as far as she got before the girl swayed and collapsed strangely, the motion looking less human and more like that of a Golem out of magic. Abandoning her slow approach, she rushes over to the downed child. Reaching the little girl, she quickly scans her, looking for the red system effects indicating injury, or the blue effects of hypothermia. It wasn't unknown for such to make mentally weak players pass out. However, she hadn't seen any in her original study of the girl, and she didn't see anything of the sort now as Kirito gently cradled her against him either. Nevertheless, despite there being no obvious reason for it, the girl remained unconscious, her shut eyes shaded by long lashes, and her arms dangling straight down.

Hanna shifts anxiously, "Do you think she's alright?"

Kirito shrugs weakly, "There's no reason for breathing in Aincrad, neither can you feel other players heartbeats, but…. She's not shattering, so she should still be alive. It's strange though…."

Hanna momentarily shifts her gaze from the child's face to her mate's, "What is? That she just collapsed?"

Kirito glances at her, "Well… That too, but… There isn't a cursor."

Hanna gives him a startled look, then looks just above the little girl's head. Sure enough, the telling color of the cursor that all players had was missing. She hesitates, "... An NPC?"

Kirito shakes his head, "The only reason an NPC would collapse is if it was part of some sort of quest, but…. If that were the case, a quest window would've popped up by now. No, she's got to be a player… I'm guessing it's a glitch of some sort."

Hanna sighs tiredly and shakes her head, "I've got so many questions right now. Why a girl as young as her is in SAO, why she's _alone_ , what's wrong with her, and just, so _many_ questions, but we aren't gonna get answers just staring at her, and it's _way_ too cold out for what she's wearing, so let's just get her back to the house quickly."

Kirito nods absently as he continues to stare at the little girl in worried confusion.

* * *

Hanna stares at the little girl with a frown. Having brought her back to their home, they'd put her in the guest bedroom the house had come with. Hanna was leaning against the doorframe as she watched Kirito tuck her into the bed. She looks away with a frown, "... What's a child as young as her even _doing_ in Aincrad? There was an age restriction of 14, and yes, I know there were more than a few kids who lied, but for there to be a child so young in a world as harsh as Aincrad….."

Her mate sighs tiredly, "I don't know, but I doubt her parents or guardians would've allowed such a young girl to play a game like this on her own, so I would think someone would be here with her, but…"

Hanna shifts her gaze back to her mate to see him gazing at the little girl with sympathetic worry, "But?"

He glances over at her momentarily, "But, if that's the case, where are they? This floor is known floor is cold climate, yet she's not dressed warmly, suggesting she either didn't know better or think about it, and since it's clear no one told her to dress more warmly, we can assume whoever should be looking after her isn't nearby, if on this floor at all. It makes me worry that maybe they…." He trails off, but they both know what he's worried about. He's worried whoever the girl was with died. He shakes his head suddenly, "Well, hopefully she simply wandered off. When she wakes up we can ask her if she knows where her guardian is. If she doesn't... we can head down to the Town of Beginnings, and with luck we'll find someone who knows her, or perhaps we'll even find who she was with."

Hanna sighs, then nods wearily, "I suppose all we can do now is wait and hope."

Kirito hums faintly in agreement.

* * *

Hours later, Kirito returned from a trip into the closest village with dinner and a sad shake of his head, immediately indicating that he'd found nothing about the little girl there. As they curled up on the couch together with dinner, Kirito scrolled through the newspaper to see if anyone was searching for the child that way.

Hanna sighs after reading with him for a bit, then morosely pushes her food around her plate, "Absolutely nothing…. I mean, I know we only found her, what, twelve hours ago at most? But I still thought…"

Kirito tosses the newspaper, an item that honestly looks somewhere between a single sheet of paper and a tablet, onto the table, then slips his arm around her shoulders comfortingly, "Hey, this doesn't necessarily mean that our worst worries are true…. Maybe it just didn't occur to them to use the newspaper. We can still ask her when she wakes up, or take her to the Town of Beginnings."

Hanna sighs again, "Yeah, I suppose so."

Kirito presses a kiss to her temple, then gives her a mock stern look, "Now stop playing with your dinner. I expect you to eat all of that, understood?"

Hanna rolls her eyes with a tiny smile, "Yes ma'am."

Kirito squawks in protest, and Hanna can't help but laugh.

* * *

October 31st, 2024- 726 days since SAO launch:

The next day, Hanna finds herself waking up earlier than usual. After watching her mate for a few minutes, she carefully untangles herself from him to go check on their little guest. She's unsurprised, but a bit disheartened to find her still asleep. With a sigh, she moves into the room and sits on the edge of the bed. Reaching out, she gently brushed the bangs out of the little girl's face, "What happened to you sweetheart? What was a little thing like you doing all the way out here on your own."

Of course, she doesn't get a reply. Turning her head towards the window, she watched the snow fall for a while as her attention once again drifted to the child's guardians. Within minutes she was startled from her thoughts by her alarm going off, having once again forgotten to disable it when she woke up early. With a sigh, she quickly calmed herself down from the scare. As she opened her menu to shut the alarm off, something strange happened. The little girl started to hum along with the music of her alarm, which was strange as _fuck_ , because only the person the alarm belonged to was supposed to hear it.

Kirito came up behind her as she stared at the child in baffled confusion, murmuring to her, "She's…. humming? What…"

Hanna doesn't actually take her confused gaze away from the girl, but halfway turns her head towards him, "That's… not the strangest thing….. Kirito, she's….. humming along to my alarm…. She started when it went off…."

There's a brief pause, then, "... What?... That's not possible. No one but the owner can hear an alarm."

Wordlessly, Hanna finishes navigating to her alarm. As soon as she shut it off, the girl stopped humming. She opened her eyes, staring at them both for a moment blue focusing on Hanna, then in an utterly adorable manner, tilted her head in confusion at Hanna, "Mu..sic?"

In a moment of sheer eloquence, Hanna passionately says, "...Uh… What?" Shaking her head, Hanna quickly gathers herself, "Sorry sweetheart, it's gone. Anyway, I don't know if you remember, but you collapsed in the snow last night. Do you remember what happened to you? How you got there maybe?"

The child shook her head slowly. Hanna shared a worried look with Kirito, then smiled warmly at the child, "I see. Well, then, can you tell us your name?" She glances at Kirito, then leans toward the girl to stage whisper in a conspiratorial manner, "He's been making up weird names to call you since we didn't know yours. I'm sure you've got a prettier name than _Gretchen_."

Behind her she heard Kirito sigh. She knew why of course. It was because he had not, in fact, been coming up with names for the child, but he didn't dispute her claim. Likely because it a archived the desired affect of making the girl giggle. In fact, he even added a grumbled, "What's wrong with Gretchen? Gretchen is a lovely name."

Without missing a beat, she turns to him and firmly states, "If we ever have kids, you are _never_ naming any of them Gretchen." Then ignoring his sputtering, turns back to the giggling child, "So, what's your name sweetheart? I'm sure you'd prefer whatever it is to wherever weird thing he comes up with."

The girl frowned adorably, "N-Neame….. My…. Name…" She inclined her head with a sudden smile, "Yu...i….. Yui…. That is my name…."

Hanna smiles warmly at her, "Yui, huh? That's a pretty name. Much better than Gretchen, that's for sure. I'm Hanna, and the guy terrible at picking names is Kirito."

Yui giggles again, then tilts her head, ".. Ana… Ki… to…"

Hanna shares a worried glance with Kirito. Given that she looked eight, after two years in Aincrad, she should actually be ten. However, Yui's shaky speech didn't match up to the level of ability she should have. That said, she seemed to understand well enough, so perhaps it was a speech impediment of some sort. In any case, since she seemed to understand well, Hanna wouldn't dumb down her own speech. She'd known a few people with speech impediments, and she knew one of the most annoying things for someone with those was people talking to them like they were stupid because of it. She wouldn't mention it either, as that could be frustrating as well. After all, it was one thing to simply try and help her, and another entirely to make a big deal of it.(1)

Hanna tilted her head with a smile, "Yui, can you tell me what you were doing on the 28th floor? Especially on your own without any equipment. Are your mom and dad here?"

Yui's eyes shifted down to the blanket, and for a while, she was silent, then she shook her head slowly, "I don't…. know…. I don't….. know anything….."

After carrying her into the living room and setting her on the couch with a glass of milk she began to slowly drink, the two pulled away into the kitchen so as to still be visible to Yui, but far enough away that they could have a quiet discussion. Hanna sighs tiredly as she leans back against the counter, "What do you think? The way she talks I could've brushed off as a speech impediment, but with her apparent amnesia as well, it's almost like…"

She trails off, not quite willing to finish the sentence, and Kirito nods slowly, "With her missing memories and those reactions, it almost seems like her mind is damaged."

Hanna sighs again, "So, you think so too?"

Kirito nods, before turning away angrily to lean on his forearms on the counter next to her, "Damn it! That's not fair! It's just not…." He's definitely on the verge of tears as he continues, "In this world... I've seen many horrible things... but this is... the worst. This is just too cruel…"

She reached over to lay a gentle hand on his arm, "It'll be alright… We…. We'll figure something out…"

Kirito shifts to lay his other hand over her own, "...Yeah."

Giving her a faint but strained smile, he took a deep breath, then straightened up. Turning back around, he went over to Yui and sat next to her on the couch with a happier looking smile while Hanna took to standing in front of him, "Aah, Yui-chan. Can I just call you Yui?" Yui looked up from her milk and wordlessly nodded, so Kirito continued, "Then, you can just call me Kirito."

Yui tilted her head at him, "Ki.. to…"

Kirito shook his head, gently attempting to correct her, "It's Kirito. Ki Ri To."

Yui scrunched up her face in concentration for a moment, "Kiito"

Kirito grinned at her, gently placing his hand on her head and ruffling her hair slightly, "Maybe that was a bit difficult. You can just call me whatever you find easiest."

Yui thought about that for a bit, then looked up at Kirito and timidly stated, "... Papa." Then she turned to Hanna, "Ana is… Mama. "

That completely took them by surprise. Hanna was unsure where Yui was coming from with that, but her best guess would be that because of the amnesia, Yui was mistaking, or perhaps simply assuming they were her parents. Logically, she knew she should probably correct Yui. Gently of course. She barely knew the child, and it would likely only cause problems later if they managed to find Yui's guardian, but… But Yui looked to adorable and trusting, and her smile was so bright and _innocent_ , something Hanna hadn't seen since the beginning of this death game. She couldn't bring herself to deny the adorably lovable child.

It was for those reasons, that Hanna smiled warmly as she nodded, "That's right sweetheart."

Kirito gave her a baffled look, but she temporarily ignored it, as Yui gave her a massive smile full of love and trust as she all but launched herself at Hanna, clinging to her in a tight hug. Hanna was dangerously happy to cradle Yui to her. After all, in the end, she'd have to return Yui to her actual parents.

Once Yui had finished off her milk and had a snack, she became tired. Hanna quickly ushered her off for a nap, following her into the room to tuck her in. She dozed off almost as soon as she in bed, so Hanna quietly left. Coming back into the living room, Hanna sat next to her mate on the couch. There was a beat of silence then Hanna sighed, "Sorry. I realize I probably shouldn't have encouraged that earlier, I just…. She looked so sweet and innocent…. I couldn't do it."

Kirito slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side, she happily curled into him, as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, "It's alright. I was struggling as well. We've gotta return her to her actual guardians though, I'm just worried that it'll be harder now."

Hanna let out another sigh then nodded wearily. It was a bit silly, they barely knew Yui, and yet Hanna was already dreading the time they'd part ways. After a moment, Kirito let's out a sigh of his own, "When Yui wakes up, we'll take her down to the Town of Beginnings, see if we can find someone who knows her. If not, the newspaper's HQ is there, and we can have them put something in the paper for us."

* * *

Hanna had begun to worry as Yui slept through the entire morning, but she woke up just before lunch. Given that neither of them could cook, they tended to just buy pre-made meals and store them in the kitchen, which wouldn't totally stop their durability from going down as time went on, but it did slow it considerably. Either that, or they conned Asuna into cooking for them. And by conned, Hanna of course meant that it was part of Asuna's payment for her continued silence about the Gleam Eyes incident. She'd just retrieved some sort of spicy sandwich things Asuna had made for Kirito, and some regular sandwiches for herself and Yui and was in the process of bringing drinks when she came wandering out, rubbing at her eyes.

Yui climbed up onto the couch next to Kirito, who smiled warmly at her, "Sleep well?" Yui simply nodded with a smile, and Kirito chuckled before gesturing to one of the plates on the table, "Here, Hanna got some food out for us."

Yui nodded again and grabbed a sandwich. Just as she was about to take a bite though, Kirito grabbed one of his own sandwiches. Yui paused and pulled the sandwich away from her face, glancing between it and Kirito's which were rather obviously different.

Noticing Yui's interest, Kirito chuckles again, "You should probably just eat those. These are super spicy."

Yui seemed to think that over for a moment, then smile at him, "I want the same as Papa!"

Kirito nods seriously as he grabs another of his sandwiches, "I see. If you think you're ready, I won't stop you. Everything in life is an experience."

With that said, he gives Yui the sandwich. Yui doesn't hesitate to take a bite, chewing it with a thoughtful expression. Finally she swallowed, then smiled happily at Kirito, "It's yummy!"

Kirito smiles at that, "You've got guts. We can convince Asuna to make something spicy for dinner tonight."

Hanna laughs lightly, "Oi! Don't get carried away now!"

Though, even as she says that, sorrow washes over her. If they managed to find Yui's parents or guardians today, she wouldn't be coming home with them again. She shakes her head then smiles, "Yui, we're going out for a bit this afternoon, ok?"

Yui tilts her head, "Going out?"

Hanna pauses, wondering how to explain, but Kirito quickly cuts in, "We're going to look for your friends."

However, that only seems to confuse Yui further, "Friends…. What are those?"

Hanna shares a glance with Kirito. It was strange, the few things Yui seems to remember and the many she doesn't. Her memory loss didn't seem all encompassing, but it was still like entire sections of her memory were just _gone_. Hanna genuinely hopes that Yui's condition will improve if she's reunited with her guardians. It's with that thought that Hanna replies, "Friends are… complicated, they're a lot of things. They're the people you care about and who care about you as well amongst other things, so we're hoping your friends can help you remember. So, let's get ready to go, ok?"

Yui seems unsure, but gets up with a nod anyway. Her short dress is entirely unsuitable for the cold weather in general, but especially for the taiga that makes up the 28th floor. It was for precisely that reason that Hanna had retrieved warmer clothes from their closet for Yui while she was napping, after all, size didn't matter in Aincrad, anything you equipped automatically fit you.

As Hanna gets up to retrieve the bundle of clothes, Kirito asks, "Yui, can you open your menu?" However, Yui tilted her head in question, which wasn't entirely unexpected, given her memory problem. Kirito sighs, "Try pinching your forefinger and thumb together and waving down, kinda like your pulling down on an invisible thread. Like this."

He opened his own menu to show her, then looked at her expectantly. Yui mimicked the motion, but no window appeared, and Hanna shared a worried look with Kirito, who sighs, "I was afraid there might be a bug given…" His gaze drifted to where Yui's cursor should be, "Not being able to open your window is way too serious an issue. You can't do anything like that…."

Kirito bit his lip in thought, but just then Yui, who had continued to try and was growing frustrated, tried waving her left hand. Immediately a menu appeared, and Yui made an excited sound of triumph and delight, turning a wide happy smile towards them, "I got it out!"

Hanna hesitates in confusion. It was impossible to change which hand you opened your menu with, so how…. She shook the thought off, it didn't matter right now. Moving over to stand right behind Yui, she smiles down at her in askance and reaches down to let her hand hover over Yui's own, "Do you mind?"

Yui shook her head with a smile, so Hanna gently grabbed her hand and began to guide it. Since she couldn't actually _see_ what was on Yui's menu, the first thing she did was guide it over to right about where the button to make her menu viewable to other players should be. Hitting it easily, Hanna pauses in shock, "What the hell?!"

Yui looks up at her in question, but she ignores it for now to give Kirito a worried look. Without hesitation he moves over to them to see what's wrong, and immediately let's out a startled noise. Normally, a menu had the main 'Summary' screen, where players could see an overview of equipped skills and stats and apply stat points when they leveled up, with five buttons off to the side, one for equips where you'd find both the inventory and skills, one for friends and guild where you also managed parties, a 'communications' button where you sent messages, trades, duel invites and the like from, one for maps and quests, and finally one for settings. Each of these had smaller sub-menus of the functions in each category for the player to choose from. _However_ , this was not the case with Yui. At the top of the main screen where the players name should be was 'Yui-MHCP001', but that was about it. There were no stats, no exp bar, no player level, _nothing_. Even worse, off to the side there were only two buttons, Equips and Options. Upon moving over to items, she realized there wasn't even a Skill tab! The Equips tab _only_ had an inventory option! Honestly, she didn't know _what the_ _ **hell**_ was going on, but she didn't like it.

Shaking her head, she used Yui's finger to start clicking on the clothes and adding them to her inventory, "This system bug is way out of hand. How's she supposed to _do_ anything with her menu like this?"

Kirito leans away from his perusal of Yui's menu with an aggravated huff, "It's strange, but it doesn't really look like a bug. It almost looks like it was _designed_ to be like that…." Then he shook his head, "That's silly though. I've honestly never wished there was a GM around more than now."

Hanna glances at him as she began moving Yui's finger to equip the new clothes, "There aren't usually any bugs or lag to speak of though, so we haven't really needed GMs… There's not really a point in brooding over it, it's not like we can fix it."

He sighs, but nods in agreement at that. Now done equipping Yui's new clothes, she moves Yui's finger to close the window and let the changes take effect. Yui is immediately enveloped by the usual particles that accompany changing equipment, and she lets out a delighted little noise. As soon as the particles are gone, she spreads her arms a bit and looks herself over. Hanna had put her in one of her red sweaters, a thicker skirt, a cloak Kirito had gotten for the colder floors to avoid debuffs, and of course, shoes, given that Yui had been barefoot from the moment they found her up until now.

Kirito looks away with a small grin, causing Yui to pout, "Do I look funny Papa?"

He turns back to her still smiling and shakes his head, "No, if course not. It's just, the last time that cloak got used was when I loaned it to a friend, Lizbeth, and it looked a bit too big on her. Resized or not, it just looks adorable on you."

Yui giggles lightly at that. Hanna smiles at that, then quickly equips her own cloak. It wasn't particularly designed for warmth, but it would work. Seeing that Kirito had equipped his jacket, Hanna nods in satisfaction, "Well then, I suppose we're ready to go."

However Yui didn't move. Instead she reached her arms towards Kirito in a clear 'carry me' gesture with a smile, "Papa."

Kirito smiles lightly, but turns around and crouches while gently explaining, "The Town of Beginnings is Army territory, so it's probably best if I carry you anyway, but it's better if I carry you like this."

Yui nods with a smile, then immediately moves forward and wraps her arms around his neck. Once he's got her legs supported, he stands up, "Ok, _now_ we're ready to go."

Hanna just shakes her head with a warm smile.

* * *

Arriving through the teleport gate, Hanna and Kirito look around in mild curiosity. They hadn't been here even once since the first floor was cleared. The Town of Beginnings was actually a good place to have as one's base of operations. The variety of items and equipment, the sheer number of available living quarters in inn rooms for rent and homes and shops one could purchase, as well as the generally low cost of everything made it one of _the_ best places for one to make their base town. However, as far as Hanna knew, no one but the Army and those to scared to venture out of the city were still here. Everyone else had moved on. Likely because the teleport plaza could easily bring up bad memories of the day they all got trapped in this death game, and the friends and acquaintances they've lost since.

Shaking those thoughts away, Hanna turns to the other two, "Yui, do you remember any of these buildings?"

Yui looks around, then shakes her head, "I don't know…."

Kirito smiles at her reassuringly, "That's alright. The Town of Beginnings is really big." He turns his gaze to Hanna, "Let's start at the central market."

Hanna nods, but can't help but begin to doubt that they'll find answers here. Normally, the teleport plaza of the main settlement on any given floor was the most active part of the city, however while she knew why the Town of Beginnings was unpopular, actually seeing the fact that there were less than ten people in the plaza began to make her wonder if this was really the place they should search for answers.

She glances at her mate, "Hey, Kirito? Do you know how many players are in the Town of Beginnings? Because I'm really starting to wonder if…"

She glances around, but he seems to understand what she's getting at. Briefly glancing around as well, he frowns, "Hmm, well, about six thousand players are still alive, and around thirty percent are in the Town of Beginnings if we include the Army, so just below two thousand."

Hanna bites her lip thoughtfully, "In that case, doesn't this place seem remarkably empty?"

Kirito's frown deepens, "Mhm… I was just wondering the same myself… Perhaps they're gathered at the market?"

He doesn't sound too sure of that, and Hanna quite agrees, but there wasn't much else to do unless they wanted to give up and go straight to the newspapers HQ. However, even as they started down the main street and neared the market it stayed almost eerily quiet, with only the random bits of dialog from NPC street vendors reaching them.

They did, find a man sitting beneath a tree off to the side of the road, so Hanna approached him, "Ah, excuse me?"

The man was staring up into the tree with a strangely serious expression, and without so much as glancing away asked in irritation, "What?"

Hanna purses her lips at the man's attitude, but pushes on, "You wouldn't happen to know of someplace that people gather in the city, do you? Someplace where one could go if they're looking for someone they got split up from?"

At that, the man finally turns his gaze to Hanna, scrutinizing her, "You're an outsider then?"

Hanna rolls her eyes at that. She didn't really see how anyone could be an _'outsider'_ in Aincrad unless one was a PKer, but pushes on, "Yes. We're trying to find this girl's guardian, but we haven't really seen _anyone_ since we got here."

The man's eyes widen briefly as he glances at Yui, but then his gaze turns to the tree branches above him, "A lost child huh? That's rare… There's a church in the town's seventh district to the east, it's right next to the river. There's a bunch of kid players living there, so that's probably a good place to try. They might know her."

Hanna nods, "Thank you." She almost just leaves the conversation there, but the man is _still_ giving the tree branches a weirdly intense look, and she can't see _why_ , which irks her as she's always been the curious sort, "What exactly are you doing anyway? It's just a tree. And for that matter, where is everyone else? We've seen almost no one since we teleported here."

The man grimaces as though incredibly annoyed, but his tone doesn't quite match as he replies, "Well… Seeing as you're outsiders, I suppose there's not really a reason not to tell you… Look, you can see it right? On that high branch all the way up there?"

Hanna looked up, narrowing her eyes as she focuses on the branch in question. The leaves, like those of the rest of the tree, were dyed the vivid colors of Autumn, but in the shadows between the leaves bright yellow fruits were rapidly growing.

The man hummed, "Of course, trees are indestructible objects, just like benches and walls, so even if you were to climb it, you couldn't pick any of them. However, the fruits fall a few times a day. There's only a few minutes before they disappear, but if you don't miss the chance and pick it up, you can sell it to an NPC for quite a bit. Not to mention they taste pretty good."

Hanna looks as him in mild disbelief, "Really? I can't imagine fruit selling for all that much, I wonder what makes them so special… How much do they go for anyway?"

The man studies her, likely trying to gauge her inventions behind the question. Apparently realising it for the mere curiosity that it is, he glances around, "Well… Don't tell anyone, but they go for five col each."

Hanna was taken aback by that. If the payoff was so low, she didn't really get why one would hang around all day collecting them, as this man seems to. She shakes her head, "In that case, it's not really worth it. I mean, if you just beat a single boar enemy that spawn near the Town, you'd get thirty col."

The man looks at her like she's crazy, "Are you serious? If you go and fight monsters, you might actually _die_."

Hanna wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. Worrying over something like that seemed as silly as constantly worrying about getting run over by a car. Maybe it was simply because of how she was raised, around Demon Hunters, training to be one herself, and constantly at risk simply because of her heritage, but worrying so much about dying that you waste your life away was unthinkable to her. She honestly had never really thought about it, it had always seemed obvious to her that one would have to leave the Town of Beginnings sooner or later. She'd been vaguely aware that there were players still in the Town of Beginnings that thought staying put was the best option, but she'd always assumed they at least made livings off the boars and wolves around the city. If these people were too scared to even fight boars, _literally_ the weakest mobs in the game… She honestly didn't know how these took care of themselves. Were they _all_ like this man, toiling away all day for pocket change?

Seemingly unaware of the disbelief he'd managed to instill in Hanna, the man continued, "Anyway, what was your other question? Where is everyone? They're here, they're just holed up in their rooms. They might run into the Army's tax collection force during the day after all."

Hanna's brows furrow in confusion, "Tax collection?"

The man shrugs, "That's what they call it anyway. It's really just a nicer term for extortion. I'd be careful if I was you. They won't spare you just because you're outsiders."

Hanna growls furiously, "I'd welcome them to try. I quite suddenly find myself with an urge to beat someone up."

The man gives her another weird look, like he's seriously questioning her sanity, but just then one of the fruit fall, "Ah! That's the end of this chat. I'm busy now."

Without another word he begins to frantically collect the falling fruit and place them in his inventory. Shaking her head at the pitiful sight, she turns to Kirito, only to find him gazing at the fruit with the same intensity he gets in battle. Rolling her eyes, she begins to drag him off, despite his protests, "Ah! Wait, no! I just want one! They look so good!"

Hanna shakes her head, "Forget about that, do you know where the seventh district is?"

Kirito heaves a massive despondent sigh, "... Yeah. It's this way."

Heading southeast down the wide empty streets for ten minutes, they reach a large garden like area. Looking around briefly, Hanna spots the telltale spire topped with an ankh that all churches possess so as to be easily identified past the trees, "Well, I suppose that's it, isn't it."

Churches weren't exactly useless despite not healing players like in some games. At the altar inside, players could cure the mob exclusive status effect «Curse», as well as have their weapons blessed to do more damage to undead type mobs for a limited amount of time. Plus, as long as col was regularly 'donated' you could borrow the rooms as a sort of replacement for an inn.

Seeing Kirito begin to walk towards the building, she calls out to him, though quietly enough not to wake Yui, who had dozed off on the way there, "Wait a moment. If we manage to find Yui's guardians, are we really just gonna leave her there? What if she doesn't remember them? What if-"

Kirito's eyes soften in empathy and he gently cuts her off, "Hanna." He sighs, "... I don't really want to part ways with her either. Brief though it may have been, with Yui around, the house felt even more like a home, but what about her guardians? They must be incredibly worried about her. Besides, it's not like we'll never see her again. I'm sure Yui will visit. As for Yui remembering them… I don't know. We can't just leave her with people she sees as strangers. She'd probably be terrified. If that happens, well, let's just cross that bridge when we get there. I'm sure we can figure something out."

Hanna sighs, "I suppose you're right. Well, might as well stop putting it off then."

Kirito gives her a brief smile, then leads the way along the path towards the church. Reaching the front doors far too quickly for Hanna's liking, she pushed one open, being a public building it was naturally unlocked. Walking inside they glanced around. It was your average church, stone room dimly lit by candles, with pews mostly there for decoration.

At first glance, it also seemed utterly empty, Hanna briefly glances at Kirito, who has his head tilted as though listening to something, and with a shrug, calls out, "Is there anyone here?" After a few moments of waiting for a reply, Hanna's brow furrows as she turns to Kirito again, "There's no one here? Do you suppose we got the wrong church?"

However Kirito shakes his head, "Nah, there's people here. Three in the right room, four on the left…. and more on the second floor. I can hear them."

Hanna raises an eyebrow, "You can tell how many people there are with the listening skill?"

Kirito shrugs, "Once you've got the skill up to level 980 you can. I've told you many times, it's a very useful skill that you should get."

Hanna snorts at that, "No way. Training that skill is boring." She smiles mischievously at him, "I'll just rely on your for that!" Then she shakes her head, "Anyway, why do you suppose they're hiding?"

Kirito shrugs, then steps a bit further into the church and calls out, "I know you're here. We aren't here to cause any trouble, we're just looking for someone."

There's a small pause, then the door on the right opens a tiny bit, and a female voice asks, "... You aren't from the Army, are you?"

Hanna shakes her head, then realizes that the woman probably can't see her, "No. We came from the upper floors."

Neither of them had their weapons equipped, and other than Kirito's coat and Hanna's cloak, they were wearing regular clothes. Given that members of the Army wore their uniforms at all times, it was obvious at a glance that they weren't with them.

Hanna was fairly certain that was why, after cracking the door a bit more to get a look at them, a short brunette stepped out with a sigh of relief, "I apologize for that, we thought you were with the Army's tax collection group."

Hanna smiles reassuringly, "No, it's alright. We're looking for someone and just got here from above today, but we've already heard about those guys, so it's understandable. But we are absolutely not not affiliated with the Army whatsoever. Actually, we're front liners."

At that, the door behind the woman was thrown open, and a young, red haired, excited looking boy shouted, "Front liners?! You mean you guys are actual swordsmen?!"

With that the door to the left read thrown open as well and there was a rush of excited kids all of them staring at them with fascination. The woman immediately let out a huff of frustration, "Oh honestly! I thought I told you all to stay hidden, didn't I?"

The woman, who appeared to be about twenty, tried to heard the kids back, but was absolutely ignored. The redhead from before looked disappointed, "What's with this? I thought you said you're front liners, but you guys don't even have weapons!"

Kirito, flustered with all the kids staring at him, stutters a bit, "N-no, it's not that we don't have any, we just-"

He doesn't get any further though, as the kids grow excited again, most of them demanding to see the weapons in question. The woman huffs again, "Hey now! You can't just go speaking so impolitely to people you've just meet!" Turning to them, she gives them an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, we rarely ever have guests here, so…"

Hanna shakes her head with a bemused smile, "No, it's no problem. I just don't understand why they're so excited. Everyone had at least the starting gear, so why…"

The redhead boy pouts at her, "Yea, but you guys are _front liners_ , your gear has gotta be ready cooler than the stuff you see down here right?"

Hanna sighs, then glances at her mate, "We've still got those drop weapons right?"

Kirito nods, "Of course. We didn't get the chance to sell them the other day, and then we found Yui."

Moving over to a nearby table, Hanna quickly materialized the all of the weapons in their inventory except for their actual gear and spares. The kids all but swarmed over them, picking them up and the like, and things like, "heavy" and "cool" were said to one another. It was a sight that would have overprotective parents faint, but given that no matter how you handled a weapon in a town is was impossible to hurt yourself, none of them were worried.

The woman sighs, "I really am sorry about all that."

Though she said that, and genuinely seemed to mean it, a gentle smile graced her face as she watched the excited kids fawn over 'the front liners gear'. Hanna smiles lightly, "It's quite alright."

The woman returns the smile, "Ah, why don't you come make yourselves comfortable. I'll make some tea."

She guides them to a small room, and once the tea is made, sits across the table from them, "You mentioned earlier that you were looking for someone?"

Hanna nods, "Yes. I'm Hanna, this is Kirito, and the child is Yui."

The woman suddenly blushes lightly, "Oh! Forgive me, I completely forgot to introduce myself earlier. I'm Sasha."

Hanna nods, then gestures to Yui who had woken up and was now drinking a glass of milk, "We found Yui near our home yesterday, she was alone with nothing more than a simple dress, and didn't even possess a weapon, so we thought she might be from around here. She also seems to have lost her memories, so when we heard child players gathered here… Well, we were hoping you knew her or her guardians."

The woman's bright green eyes had widen behind her glasses during the explanation, "Oh my! That terrible!" She looks at Yui for a moment, '... Right now, there are about twenty children living here, and I'm fairly certain that all of the child players from the Town of Beginnings are here…. At the time this game started… Most of the children had panic attacks and began suffering mental problems. Of course, there were children who got used to the game and left the city, but they're the exceptions."

Hanna's thoughts drift to Silica. She seemed to be around the age of the oldest child here, so Hanna supposes that she's one of the 'exceptions'. Sasha sighs as she continues, "It's only to be expected. They're still children, the oldest just barely a preteen when they were told they were unable to leave, perhaps never getting to return to the world, to their parents."

Sasha pauses briefly to collect herself, then continues, "For a month or so after this death game started, I thought about trying to help with the completion of the game, and I leveled up to the best of my ability, but… One day I saw one of the children at a street corner and I just couldn't leave her there all alone, so I brought the child with me and we started living together at the inn. Then I thought of all the other children still around, so I started going around the city, calling out to them, before I knew it, we were all living here together. I haven't seen a new child in over a year, so I thought I'd gotten them all. For one to be found on the upper floors all alone with memory loss… It makes me feel as though I failed somehow."

Hanna shakes her head, "Don't be preposterous. You seem to be doing a fantastic job taking care of the kids."

Sasha smiles lightly, "Thank you, but I'm not exactly doing this out of some sense of duty. It's been a joy living with the children." Then her smile slips away and she sighs, "That's why, for the past two years we've gone through every building in town, looking for other children who need help. If there was such a small child still around, we would've noticed. I'm sorry to say it, but.. I don't think this child was living in the Town of Beginnings."

Hanna sighs, "It's alright. To be honest, when I heard about the children here, I honestly wasn't expecting an adult to be here as well, so being about to get absolute confirmation is more than I'd hoped for…" She trails off momentarily, then glances at Sasha, "Perhaps this is a bit personal, but… How do you guys get by? The only other person we've talked to since we arrived here made money in the strangest way… I honestly can't see something like that working to take care of so many people…"

Sasha smiles, "Ah, well, aside from me, some of the older kids help take care of the younger ones. They're at a level that makes it completely safe to venture out of the city, so long as they stay in the nearby fields. They make enough off the mobs to keep this place and feed us while I make sure the younger ones stay out of trouble."

Kirito tilts his head at that, "That's kinda amazing, considering going out and fighting mobs seems to be considered a suicidal act that goes against common sense."

Sasha nods, "That's basically what the rest of the players in the Town of Beginnings believe, barring the Army. I won't deny that idea, considering there's the danger of dying. However, we're also earning a lot more money than most players in the city, so there's definitely a good reason to go out there, even if you don't go far."

That was certainly true. To reserve the rooms in a church like they have, one would probably need to offer a hundred col a day, which greatly exceeded what the man from earlier made. Sasha suddenly sighs, "That's why I've been keeping an eye on them as of late."

Hanna tilts her head, "On who?"

Sasha's gentle demeanor suddenly hardens, and she opens her mouth to explain, but before she can say anything, the door bursts open to let the children in, the redhead from before shouting, "Sensei! Sensei! You've gotta come quick! It's horrible!"

Sasha shoots out of her seat with a worried expression, "What's wrong?"

The redhead teared up as he answered, "Gin and the others have been captured by the Army!"

Fury takes over Sasha's features at that, "Where?!"

The boy rubs at his eyes angrily, trying to keep himself from crying, "At the vacant land behind the second-hand shop at the fifth eastern district. The Army is blocking the passageway with a bunch of people. Kotta was the only one who managed to get away."

Sasha nods firmly, "Alright, then I'll go right away. All of you, stay here. I mean it this time, understand?! Stay put!" She turns to them briefly, "My apologies, but it seems we'll have to continue this conversation later."

Hanna shakes her head, "Don't worry about it. Actually, we can come with if you'd like some assistance?"

Kirito quickly collects Yui, getting her situated on his back as Sasha hesitates briefly then nods, "Normally, I wouldn't involve others with something that doesn't concern them, but I'm not really in a position to turn down such an offer at the moment. I hope you'll forgive me for that, be we need to go now."

As they rushed out of the church, Sasha huffs, "Ooh, I've been worried something like this would happen. That's what I was saying earlier. I've been keeping an eye on the Army because I've been getting a suspicion lately that they'd try something, seeing as we make the most money out of every in town except the Army themselves…"

Hanna glances at her, "By that, I'm going to assume Gin, Kotta, and the others are the kids who go out hunting?" Sasha simply nods wordlessly, and Hanna purses her lips as righteous indignation burns through her, "I _see_."

Following Sasha through various shortcuts, they soon arrived in an ally blocked by at least ten Army members. It was a dirty trick that used the game's system to players' advantage. If you tried to push another player or anything of the sort within a city, the Crime Protection Code activated, not only making it impossible to harm other players but making it impossible to move them against their will as well. Attempting to move someone got you a harassment warning and pushed back instead. It was actually how she'd pushed Kuradeel away from Kirito and Asuna that day, by simply placing herself in his path and 'bumping' him with her shoulder. The system had thus considered Kuradeel to be attempting to push her out of the way. It was however, sometimes applied for things like this. By simply making a wall of players, it became impossible to get away unless you either had a Teleport Crystal or a high enough agility to simply jump over, both of which Hanna doubted the children possessed.

Hanna narrows her eyes as one of the men smirks, "Oh look! The babysitter's here!"

Sasha purses her lips, "Give me back the children!"

The man frowns, "You make it sound like we're doing something bad. We're just teaching them how things work around here. This is also one of the Army's key duties."

Another of the men nod with a smirk, "That right, because citizens have a duty to pay taxes."

The men all laugh at that, and Sasha tries to look around them, "Gin! Cain! Mina! Are you over there?"

One of the men move to block the small opening she was peering through, but they can't block sound and a child's voice calls back, "Sasha-sensei! Please help!"

Sasha ignores the men, "Forget about the money. Just give it to them!"

A young boy's voice responds this time, "That's not good enough!"

At Sasha's confusion, one of the men _'helpfully'_ explains, "You guys owe a hell of a lot of back taxes."

The first man nods again, "So you need to leave you equipment, along with your armor. Every last piece."

Sasha grits her teeth, placing her hand on the dagger at her waist, "Get… Get out of my way! Or else…"

Tired of the disgusting men, Hanna shares a glance with Kirito, then they both use their agility to simply jump over the Army members. Hanna smiles gently at the kids, "It's alright. Put your equipment back on."

The oldest of the kids, a brown haired boy, nods hesitantly, "O-ok…"

Hanna turns back to the men just as one of them begins speaking, "Hey! What's this? Who the hell are you guys?"

Another takes a step forward, "You're actually interfering with Army business?"

Before they can say anything the first man, who seems to be in charge, makes his way from in front of Sasha to in front of them, "Well, hold on. I haven't seen you around before… You know what it means to defy the Liberation Army, don't you? We could always take this outside the town's safe zone to settle it!"

He draws his sword in a clear attempt at intimidation, and the kids make frightened noises from behind her, but it only serves to make Hanna angrier. She materializes her Falcata from her inventory, and as she passes him tells her mate, "Kirito, take care of Yui." Then to the man, "If you wish to battle so badly, there's no need to go all the way out to the field. We can settle it here and now."

The man, clearly unused to dealing with people willing to put up a fight, takes a step back, "W-What?"

Walking straight up to the arrogant man, she changes a skill, then slams it into his sword, shattering it and causing the man to stumble back. As soon as the incredibly short cool down on that particular skill ends, which was why she'd chosen that one to begin with, she changes it again, this time smashing his chest plate into polygons and sending him sprawling onto his back. Charging it again, she demolishes his helmet, and sends him tumbling away.

She stares down at the terrified man coldly, holding her weapon loosely despite the fact her fury has doubled, "Don't worry. In a town, your HP won't drop, no matter what. Only armor durability goes down with a minor knock-back effect. That said, for a _coward_ like _you_ that goes around _**bullying children**_ , safe zone fights still leave you with a sense of terror, don't they?"

The man trembled slightly as he understood what she'd implied. Within a city, the Crime Prevention Code did not allow players to get injured, it didn't even allow weapons to pierce players themselves. However this also meant an attacking player did not need to worry about their cursor changing colors. Furthermore, the "barrier" that stopped a player from being pierced by a weapon and threw the attacked player back, made an incredibly loud noise upon impact. It was usually used by guilds and the like for mock duels as a means of practice, and is also likely the intended reason Kayaba put such a system in place. For a man like him though, who is so scared of dying that he'd rather extort money from _children_ , being attacked in such a manner was likely terrifying.

Tightening her grip on her weapon, it goes from its nearly vertical position to a near horizontal position. The man, taking it for the threat it is, turns tries to scramble away in panic, "D-Don't!"

She ignores him however, hitting his back with the skill again, sending him to the ground once more. The man glances back at her, then turns to his men, "D-Don't just stand there! Do something!"

The men reached for their weapons, and Hanna brought her own up into a ready position, "I will give you all _one_ warning. You said earlier you hadn't seen us around before. Allow me to clarify. The reason you've never seen us in town before is because we're front liners. Perhaps you've heard of us, I am known as She-Devil Hanna, and that man back there is my husband, The Black Swordsman Kirito. Do you truly wish to discover for yourselves why the other front liners, who _routinely_ fight for bosses fearlessly, call me **She-Devil**?"

At that, more than one of the men takes a step back, and after a small tense beat of silence, one of them breaks off and runs away, causing a sort of domino effect. Within seconds every single one of the Army members flee. She glares after them. She's still _furious_ , and is honestly tempted to chase them down, but let's them go.

Sasha approaches hesitantly, "Err… Hanna-san? Y-Your avatar seems to be… I mean, your eyes..."

Glancing at the reflective surface of her weapon, she's utterly _astonished_ to see that her eyes have turned a glowing red. It is only then that she realizes that the things burning their way through her aren't just fury and disgust, but her demonic power restlessly blazing just beneath her skin as well. She immediately reigns it in. Likely, it still hadn't settled fully since the indecent with Kuradeel, and thus, easily flared in reaction to her fury. Sheathing her weapon, she closes her eyes, taking deep breaths. It was a simple trick her grandfather had taught her for when the Devil's battle fury surfaced. Train the body and mind to to associate that fury with the weapon, so that simply sheathing it induces a sense of calm.

Opening her eyes, she smiles reassuringly at Sasha. From the way her shoulders relax and the hesitant smile she returns, Hanna knows her eyes have returned to normal. That said, it wouldn't do to have some woman see something like that and not say anything. She could get in trouble if she didn't cover her tracks, "How strange. I've never changed the color of my eyes or hair in the menu, so I wonder why…."

Sasha's hesitant smile eases at that, "It must've just been a glitch. They've returned to normal now."

Hanna gives her a relieved smile, hoping that it's believable. Sasha seems to buy it, thankfully, but before she can say anything, one of the kids murmurs, "Wow…" Hanna turns to them quickly in shock, but that murmur seems to break the kids from their stupor, "That was amazing, Nee-chan!"

The kids quickly approach her, the other boy, who has a silvery looking hair, though likely changed in the menu rather than natural like her family's, proclaims, "I've never seen anything like that!"

The girl of the trio, a brunette with braids, nods emphatically, "Yeah! You were so cool!"

Sasha moves around to the kids with a shake of her head, "Right. Thank you for your assistance."

Hanna blushes lightly as the kids crowd around her, continuing to sing praises. She doesn't really get a chance to say anything, given that the kids are already talking over each other, they're certainly not leaving her any sort of opening yo say anything, but she listens to them ramble with a smile. At least, until she hears Kirito's concerned voice, "Yui?"

Her gaze immediately snaps to her mate and child. Or rather, Yui. It wasn't right to call her her child, even internally. Yui already had parents. That wasn't important at the moment though, not when there seems to be something wrong, "Yui?"

Kirito was looking over his shoulder at Yui in concern, "Yui, what's wrong?"

Yui, however, doesn't seem to hear him, her hand stretched towards the sky, and her gaze similarly pointed up as she murmurs, "Everyone's hearts…."

Kirito tries to get her attention again, with as few results as the first time, so Hanna rushes over, "Yui, did you remember something?"

That seems to get her attention, as Yui finally lowers her arm, clutching Kirito's shoulders with shaking hands and burying her face into his back, "I… I… I wasn't here…. I was always alone in the dark…."

Her brow furrowed as though she was remembering something, but a split second later, she threw her head back with an high pitched shriek that echoed strangely. For the first time since she'd entered SAO, Hanna heard a crackling buzzing sort of noise usually associated with electronics short circuiting, but it was deafening, and everything around them, the buildings, the trees, even Kirito and Yui herself began to glitch as though shown on a bad tv.

Yui goes limp and begins to fall backwards off of Kirito, and Hanna darts forward to catch her, both herself and Kirito calling out her name. Yui trembles in her arms, "Mama, I'm scared… Mama…."

There's a brief pause as she simply holds Yui, then she hears Kirito murmur in astonishment with a shaky voice, "What was that just now?"

Before Hanna can even think of how to reply to that, if there even was a reply to something like that, Yui passes out, "Yui…" Then faintly, she calls out, "Sasha… Do you suppose it would be to much of a bother if we brought Yui back to the church to rest?"

Sasha's voice is flustered and worried as she instantly replies, "Not at all! I- I was just about to suggest that myself actually... Do… Do you think she'll be ok?"

Hanna sighs tiredly as she gently scoops Yui up, "... I don't know…. I… I really don't know…" She looks to her mate, silently pleading with her mate to have answers for her, but he just shrugs helplessly, "Then… Do you have any idea what she meant… She said she was always alone, in the dark…"

Kirito shrugs again, this time frustrated as well as helpless, "I don't… I don't have answers…. I don't even have a single _idea_ …."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1): So, I'm just gonna say this now to get it out of the way. I don't know if this holds true for everyone with a speech impediment, but I actually do have experience with someone who had one. My sister had one when she was younger, and had to go to speech therapy for years. So I'm just going by my personal experience here. Just wanted to get that out of the way so I, hopefully, don't offend anyone.


	26. The Fatal Scythe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I originally had the goal of getting this done and out within a week, which put my deadline on the 17th, but a bunch of shit went down with my sorta psycho older sister, so… Family drama considered, I'm pretty happy with it only being a day late! Hope you all enjoy!

 

November 1st, 2024- 727 days since SAO launch:

After Sasha graciously allowed them to use one of the church's rooms for the night, Hanna and Kirito can't help but watching the chaos that Sasha calls breakfast, but Hanna thinks would be more accurately be called a battlefield from their little table of to the side with Sasha and Yui before Kirito seems to feel the need to put it to words, "This is…. amazing." Then he smiles slightly, "But still, it looks like they're having fun."

Hanna nods, "Yeah…"

Sasha chuckles lightly, "It's like this everyday. No matter how many times I tell them to be quiet and settle down it just goes in one ear and right out the other."

Hanna smiles at that, "You really do like children, don't you?"

Sasha returns her smile warmly, "In the real world, I was attending university to become a teacher. The chance to guide children has always gotten me fired up, but then I came here, started living with the children and, well, having a bunch of children in your care is lot different than what I expected. It felt like I was the one relying on them instead, that they were supporting me more than the other way around, but, well, that might be fine too….. I started believing it was merely a natural result."

Hanna nods lightly as she brushes Yui's bangs away from her face, "I understand what you mean."

The sheer warmth she got just from Yui's presence surprised her. It was definitely different than the love she felt for her mate, but that was a given and just because she loved Yui differently it didn't mean she loved her less. It genuinely terrified her, how much she felt for Yui. After what she said during her little episode yesterday, Hanna was beginning to doubt there had been anyone taking care of Yui in Aincrad, by nevertheless, she'd still have to let go of her eventually, if only when they returned to the real world.

She's pulled from her thoughts when Kirito clears his throat, "Sasha… About the Army. To the extent of my knowledge, despite the overwhelming tyranny within the guild itself, they were still dedicated to helping players and maintaining order. However, those guys yesterday were basically just criminals poorly pretending to be good guys… When did the Army change so much?"

Sasha purses her lips, "About half a year ago is when their goals truly seemed to change from what I could tell. I mean, there had already been those in their group who 'collected taxes' and the like before that, but there'd also been others in the Army who cracked down on those criminals. On numerous occasions I was witness to scenes of Army members confronting one another over those criminal acts. Back then it gave me hope that the Army was doing something about their rouge members, but…. Then I started hearing rumors of a power struggle amongst the higher ups of the Army, and over time, the criminals in that guild seemed to take over whereas the honest members seemed to slowly dwindle away."

Kirito sighs as he shares a glance with Hanna, "It's to be expected I suppose. When you have a guild with over a thousand members, it's almost inevitable that there will be divides… Still, if what happened yesterday is a daily affair, it can't be allowed to continue, but I'm not sure how…. If this had been a month ago, I'd have suggested taking it to Heathcliff, but with what we've learned of the guy since then… Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if he already knows and is simply ignoring the situation…"

Hanna hums as she thinks it over, just then an idea strikes her. However before she can think it over, a clear knock echoes through the building, silencing the children instantly. Sasha stands up, clearly baffled, "Another visitor? My we're popular lately."

Kirito tilts his head, "Why'd they knock? Churches are public buildings…"

Hanna shoots him a small grin, "Probably respecting the fact the church is occupied. Perhaps we should've done that ourselves yesterday… Might've saved us some trouble."

Sasha shakes her head slightly and turns to the kids, sternly telling them, "Stay here and finish your breakfast everyone, if anything happens, you're to listen to Kirito and Hanna. I'll be back soon."

Kirito and Hanna share another glance, then with a shrug Kirito returns to his meal. Seeing that both her mate and child were happily absorbed in their food, Hanna idly turns to her own breakfast, turning her previous idea over in her head. She was fairly certain it would be relatively easy to convince him to help. For all that he was manipulative and could be selfish, even he had clear lines drawn at what was ok and what wasn't, and she _knew_ he'd agree that extorting _children_ firmly falls into the things that _just weren't done_ category…

It wasn't long before a hesitant looking Sasha returned with another woman. She was tall, with long silver hair pulled back in a ponytail, and sky blue eyes, but her most notable feature, given recent events, was the female light Army uniform she was wearing. Sasha glances at her nervously, "Err, this is Yulier, she, ah, she said she wanted to talk to you two…." Seeing the kids staring with worried looks, she gives them a slightly strained reassuring smile, "It's alright everyone, just finish eating your breakfast."

The kids still seem unsure, so Hanna gently adds, "Don't worry, if she tries anything Kirito and I are here."

After yesterday, that definitely reassures the kids, who go back to their meals. Even Sasha relaxes a bit at that. The woman doesn't seem worried by her words in the slightest, so either she doesn't intend to cause trouble, or she's incredibly arrogant. Either way, she nods lightly, "Ah, as Sasha said, I'm Yulier, I'm from ALF."

Confusion washes over Kirito's face, "ALF?"

Yulier grimaces, "The Aincrad Liberation Force, also known as the Army. I find the name to be just as ridiculous as most players, so I prefer to use the abbreviation…"

Hanna snorts, "Can't blame you for that. I'm Hanna, this is Kirito, we're unaffiliated. The child is Yui."

That seems to shock Yulier, " _The_ Hanna and Kirito? The She-Devil and The Black Swordsman?" Kirito nods lightly, and Yulier's gaze turns thoughtful, "I see… No wonder that group yesterday was dealt with so easily…"

Hanna narrows her eyes at that, "Then, are you here to complain about yesterday. Perhaps throw around threats like you're guildmates did?"

Yulier shakes her head firmly, "No, no. Not at all. If anything it's the opposite. As a matter of fact, I wanted to thank you." Hanna shares a startled look of slight disbelief with her mate, but their attention is drawn back to Yulier as she takes a deep breath before she continues, "Actually, I came here to request your assistance."

Hanna raises an eyebrow, "A request?"

Yulier nods, "Ah, I realize it may seem… Presumptuous, given your recent history with the ALF, but if you'll give me the chance to explain, I assure you it will make more sense."

Hanna shares another look with her mate, having a quick silent conversation. At the end Hanna shrugs, so Kirito gestures to one of the two empty chairs at the table, "Well then. Go ahead and take a seat, we aren't guaranteeing an answer until we've heard what you have to say, but we're willing to listen."

Yulier nods gratefully, "Of course, I expected nothing less. I'll apologize for this in advance, but it will take a bit of backstory to understand what I came here for. Our guild wasn't always known as the ALF or the Army. Originally it was called MTD."

Kirito glances at Hanna, before explaining, "The abbreviation of MMO Today. At the time SAO started, it was the biggest net-game information gathering site in Japan. The one who formed the guild was likely the sites administrator. If I recall correctly, he went by the name-"

Yulier finished the sentence, "Thinker. Yes, he's the guild's leader. Our guild wasn't always as corrupt and dictatorial as it is now, that wasn't at all what Thinker created it to be. Originally, we just wanted to share information and food evenly among as many players as possible."

Kirito sighs, "But the Army grew too large."

Yulier nods, "Yes, there were multiple internal power struggles, and a man named Kibaou ended up with a great deal of influence within the guild. Kibaou and his faction have become dominate, monopolizing all of the best mob spawn points and have gone so far as to extort people under the pretext of collecting taxes. But people started criticizing Kibaou for neglecting his obligation to clear the game.

Hanna growls angrily, "That doesn't surprise me, we're unfortunately familiar with him. He's one of the most avaricious people I've ever had the misfortune of knowing and he always seems to manage to convince other morons to follow him. Wish he would've just stayed the hell away from the front lines after the disaster he caused back on the 25th floor. I'm guessing that group of Army members that foolishly attempted to defeat the 74th floor boss were his guys?"

Yulier nods with a sigh, "Yes. He sent the highest level players under his command, however it nearly ended in disaster."

Hanna snorts, "We know. We were there that day. Who do you think beat that thing and saved their sorry arrogant asses?" She jabs a thumb in her mates direction, "Mostly him, admittedly."

Yulier pauses, "Ah, I had seen something in the paper, but given that those men report to Kibaou, I couldn't be sure of its authenticity… Well, because of that fiasco, Kibaou was strongly denounced, and we were close to dismissing him from the guild. Desperate, he resorted to drastic measures, setting a trap for Thinker." Yulier lowers her head as her eyes tear up, "Thinker's been stranded deep inside a dungeon!"

Kirito looks at her in disbelief, "Doesn't he have a Teleport Crystal?"

Hanna frowns heavily as Yulier shakes her head, "Is he too under-leveled to simply fight his way out?"

Yulier sighs, "He was too trusting. He believed Kibaou when he said he only wanted to talk unarmed. That was three days ago."

Hanna's brow furrows, "Three days? What's happened to him? Are you sure he's even still alive?"

Yulier doesn't lift her gaze, continuing to stare at the table with a worried expression, "He's in the depths of a significantly high level dungeon. He seems to be suck there, but his name doesn't have a cross on my friends list, so I'm sure he's still alive. As his second-in-command, it's my responsibility to help him… But my level isn't high enough for me to reach him. And Kibaou is using his influence to prevent the rest of the Army from helping. I'd almost given up hope…"

Yulier finally lifts her head to give them a pleading look, "But then I heard that two incredibly high leveled players had come to town. So I came here to ask for your help." She suddenly shot up from her seat, "Kirito, Hanna… I realize this is extremely rude to ask of someone I've just meet, but please, will you aid me in rescuing Thinker?"

Hanna studies Yulier intently. They didn't know her, and there was always a possibility she was lying. She seemed earnest, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. She could just be a very good actor. Normally, they wouldn't be so worried about it, but given their track record with the Army...

Kirito hesitates, "If there's something we can do, we'd like to help, but we'd need to verify your story-"

Yulier cuts him off desperately, "I know that I'm asking a lot of you! But when I think about him trapped in there, I feel like I'm losing my mind…."

Hanna tilts her head at her, "Do you love him?"

Yulier yanks get head up to gaze at her in shock, "I- I'm sorry?"

Hanna stares her down, "Do you love him? It's a simple question, Yulier."

Yulier slowly turns red, "I-... Yes. I do."

Hanna stares into her eyes for a minute, then nods, "Ok. We'll help."

Kirito chuckles, "Mm. I'd rather regret trusting someone than regret doubting them anyway."

Hanna smiles at him in agreement, "Better to be tricked, then to let someone die, yea?" She turns her smile to Yulier, "We'll do our best."

Yulier's eyes tear up again, as she stares at them with slight disbelief, then she bows her head gratefully, "Thank you… Thank you so much…"

Hanna simply nods at her, then turns as Kirito moves to gently run his hand over Yui's hair, "You'll have to stay here with Sasha for a bit, ok?"

Yui scowls adorably, "No, I'm coming too."

Sasha smiles lightly at her, "It's alright Yui, you just need to stay with me for a bit and then they'll be back to get you."

Yui shakes her head emphatically, "No!"

Kirito jokingly mumbles, "Ah, this must be her rebellious phase."

Hanna purses her lips to suppress the grin that wants to slip out at that and shoots her mate a look, but he simply stares back at her with unapologetic amusement. Shaking her head at her mate, she focuses on the little girl seated between them, "Yui, where we're going is really dangerous."

Yui shakes her head again, leaning over to cling to Kirito's arm, "I'm going too!"

Kirito looks away from the little girl to meet her eyes, and they have a quick silent conversation before Hanna sighs, "Oh, alright. But! You better do whatever we tell you to! I'm going to give you a Teleport Crystal to keep in your pocket, and if we tell you to, you're going to use it to teleport back here to the Town of Beginnings. You use one the same way we used the gate to get here yesterday, while you're holding the Crystal. And you'll stay in the back with Yulier, understood?"

Yui nods, beaming happily at them. Sasha sighs, then shakes her head with a small bemused smile, "Well, you can't very well go around saving people on an empty stomach though, so you should finish your breakfast first. There's still some left, so you should eat something as well, Yulier."

Yulier hesitantly sits back down, "Um, ok. Thank you." Taking some food from the platters in the center of the table, she starts to eat, hesitantly at first, but she's soon eating with the speed that rivals Kirito when he's gone more than four hours without so much as snacking on anything. Which is rather impressive really, for anyone _not_ Kirito.

Sasha gives her a strange look, "I'd think the second-in-command to the Army's guild leader would be able to get food easily."

Yulier pauses, then blushes heavily, "S-Sorry. I haven't been eating or sleeping well since Thinker got trapped… I- I didn't realize how hungry I was until I started eating…"

Sasha's eyes soften with sympathy, "It's alright. Eat as much as you want, the upside to us only buying basic meals is that there's always plenty to go around."

Yulier nods hesitantly, "T-Thank you."

* * *

Once they'd finished their breakfast, they all make their way to the church entrance. The kids all follow Sasha and them to the entrance, and remembering their excitement from the day before, Hanna is fairly confident in her assumption that it's less to say goodbye to them, despite how the kids seemed to adore Kirito and herself after the previous days encounter with the Army, and more in the hopes of seeing their front liner gear. Sharing an amused look with Kirito, they both stop in front of the doors to the church and quickly equip their gear, much to the delight of the kids.

Turning back to Sasha, Hanna nods her head at her with a smile, "Thank you very much for your hospitality Sasha."

Sasha waves it away with a smile, "After the way you helped us yesterday, it was nothing. Good luck helping Yulier and Thinker."

Hanna smiles lightly at her, "Thanks. Well, until we meet again."

Waving to the kids and Sasha, the four of them head out, following Yulier. Kirito glances at her, "So where is the dungeon anyway? You haven't actually said."

Yulier glances at him quickly, "It's here. There's a secret passage inside the Black Iron Castle, which I'm sure you know the Army has taken over to use as their- _our_ headquarters. It leads down into the dungeon, which is apparently to be hidden beneath the Town of Beginnings."

Kirito jerks a bit at that, "Eh? I didn't come across anything like that during the beta test… Hanna?'

She shakes her head, "No, I never heard anything about something like that either…"

Kirito sighs, "What a missed opportunity…"

Yulier hums, "As far as I know, it opened up a while ago as the upper floors were cleared, which may explain why it wasn't discovered during the beta. It's highly likely that the correct floor to open the dungeon was never reached. Kibaou found it sometime during his rise to power, and likely planned to monopolize it to strengthen only those loyal to him."

Kirito sighs, "So that's it… There are quite a lot of rare drops that only appear once in unexplored dungeons. Given how greedy that guy always was, it doesn't surprise me that he wanted to keep it for himself." Kirito huffs in irritation, "He and the few he allowed to know must've made quite a profit. It's a bit frustrating to know that a guy like that managed to luck out and find something like that. He certainly didn't deserve it."

Yulier nods, "I quite agree. Which is why I'm quite happy to inform you that things didn't work out as he'd hoped."

There was definitely a trace of smugness in her tone, and Hanna couldn't blame her in the slightest, nor can she quite suppress the small grin, "Then what actually happened?"

Yulier glances back at her, "Despite being on the first floor, the dungeon is incredibly difficult… Even the most basic monsters there have levels in the 60s, which is why I suspect it only opened when those floors were reached. So, it's rather obviously a given that Kibaou and his men couldn't handle it all that well. From my understanding, they got separated and chased around almost immediately, and barely escaped with their lives by teleporting out, but not before _attempting_ to fight the mobs and using a _ridiculous_ amount of Healing Crystals. Their reckless use of those crystals put the guild in the red and everything, which is how Thinker and myself found out."

Knowing that they made it out ok, Kirito couldn't help but laugh at the idea of those _idiots_ getting chased around. Hanna just _knew_ that's why he was laughing, partially because she herself could help but snicker. Yulier glances over her shoulder at them again to grin lightly with a mischievous look in her eyes, clearly understanding the humor they find in the situation.

After a few moments though, her humor to drain away and she slumps as her gloomy mood returns, "However, that's also the reason saving Thinker is so difficult. The Corridor Crystal that Kibaou used to trap him was set to a spot deep into the dungeon that he managed to reach while running around trying to get away from the mobs…"

Hanna actually stopped dead in her tracks at that, "Wait, wait, wait, wait… You're telling me, that he _actually used_ a Corridor Crystal given to him by someone as untrustworthy as _**Kibaou**_?! I mean, I'd been wondering how Kibaou managed to trap him in a dungeon but…"

Yulier gives her an embarrassed look, "Thinker is an optimist… He's… _far_ too trusting, despite how many times I've tried to be a bit more realistic…"

Hanna yanks a frustrated hand through her ponytail, "He and I are going to have a _**talk**_ when his stupid ass is safe." She begins to march off towards the Black Iron Castle with a faster pace than before, "Come on love, Yui, Yulier, I've an _idiot_ to scold. Then save. Then scold some more. Maybe smack him for good measure."

Though she can't _actually_ feel his emotions without a full bond, Kirito's amusement seems to radiate from him, "I suddenly find myself feeling about a hundred times more sorry for Thinker then I did when I heard he was trapped…"

Yulier seems unsure, "Err… She- That is…."

Kirito chuckles, "Don't worry, you'll get Thinker back in one piece… He may simply have a sudden slight phobia of short females and be far less trusting than before."

There's a pause before Yulier replies, "... How slight? I wouldn't want any spontaneously acquired phobias to interfere with him working…"

Kirito hums, "Oh don't worry, it won't. He'll probably be rather weary and perhaps a _bit_ twitchy around them, but nothing to worry about."

There's another pause, this one seeming thoughtful, "... I can live with that. Especially if he stops trusting people like Kibaou…"

Kirito laughs, "I should hope so! You _literally_ can not stop her now."

Another hesitation, "I… see…. I'm beginning to wonder if asking you two for help should come with some sort of warning…"

Kirito just laughs again.

* * *

It wasn't long before a building came into view. Living up to its name, the Black Iron Castle was exactly that, a castle made from gleaming black metal. It was the largest building in the Town of Beginnings, it housed the Monument of Life, upon which the screen name of every single player in the game was carved, with those of the dead having a single line carved through them. Anyone could enter up until the Monument, but most of the rest of it was sealed off when the Army claimed it as their HQ. Or, that's what Hanna had heard anyway. She hadn't ever been inside the castle.

However, Yulier didn't lead them in what was obviously the main entrance, instead leading them around the back, but inside both the castle walls and moat. There was noticeably zero people on the path she led them. They walked for several for minutes before reaching a stairway that descended down towards a stone platform just above the surface of the moat.

Yulier turns to them, "We'll enter the castles sewers from here, then head to the entrance of the dungeon from there. I apologize for the roundabout route, but it wouldn't be good if Kibaou realized what was going on…"

Hanna snorts, "I'm not afraid of confronting that bastard…" then she sighs, "... If it'll make you feel better though, we'll go this way." Then she shoots Yulier a suspicious look, "... Obviously a sewer in Aincrad is just for show… But it better not have be _too_ _ **realistic**_."

Yulier shakes her head, "No nothing like that, thank goodness, considering I've been having to use it to come and go… No, it's just kinda dark and narrow…"

She gave Yui a slightly concerned glance, causing the girl to scowl, "I'm not scared!"

Hanna smiles lightly at her firm proclamation. To Yulier, they'd simply explained Yui by saying she was living with them at the moment, and she'd accepted it without question. She did however, have understandable reservations at bringing her along into the dungeon.

Hanna turns to Yulier, "It's alright. Yui's tougher than she looks."

Kirito nods with a grin, "Yup. She'll make a fantastic swordswoman someday."

Hanna shares a smile with Kirito at that, and Yulier nods, "Well then, let's go."

* * *

The first few waves of mobs, Hanna took care of so as to release as much of her frustration with Thinker and her rage towards Kibaou as she can without either of the actual men present, but after that she happily let Kirito take over. Yui seemed to thoroughly enjoy watching them fight, as she'd been bouncing on her heels lightly and making little noises of delight both when she was fighting and now while Kirito was as well.

Yulier glances at her, a hesitant look on her face, "Hanna? May I ask you something?" Hanna glances at her, then nods. Yulier takes a deep breath before continuing, "When- When I was asking for your assistance… You… You asked me if I loved Thinker…. Why?"

Hanna turns her head to gaze at her for a moment, "Because… I know what it's like to desperately want the person you love to be safe…" Her gaze shifts to Kirito as she contemplates whether she should elaborate, then sighs wearily, "Kirito isn't just my party member… He's my husband. I- That is…. There have been a few times before… when we encountered PKers… that I nearly lost him… I… I'm almost certain I'd go crazy if that happened… And I don't mean the over emotional kind of crazy, I mean _straight-jacket_ and _insane asylum_ kind of crazy." Like uncle Vergil had, though she doesn't say that to Yulier. She sighs quietly, "... If you love Thinker even an eighth as much as I love Kirito, then I couldn't _**not help**_."

Yulier seems to think that over for a moment, then nods solemnly, before turning her attention back to Kirito. Watching him tear through the most recent wave, she frowns slight before turning her head towards Hanna, "I'm sorry for not helping."

Hanna shakes her head with a smile, "Don't worry about it. Kirito genuinely enjoys fighting. The only reason I was doing it instead of him earlier was because Kibaou thoroughly pisses me off and it's best for me to release that frustration before I end up doing something drastic." She waves her hand near her face in a dismissive gesture, "Letting him do all the fighting is fine when the mobs are so weak."

Kirito, having finished and been wandering over, pouted as he caught the last bit, "Hey! What's with that? That's horrible. Letting me do everything…"

Hanna grins at him, "Well then, would you like to switch?"

Kirito falls silent briefly as he looks away from her, "Ah… Well... No."

Hanna flashes Yulier an amused 'I told you so' grin, which she returns. Becoming serious again, Yulier quickly opens her menu and navigates to her map before making it visible to them and pointing to what was clearly a friend marker, surrounded by the black usual when there was no map data of the area one was attempting to view. The dot was still a good distance away, but Hanna estimated they were just shy of three quarters from of the entrance to Thinkers position.

Yulier purses her lips before explaining, "Thinker hasn't moved from this position since shortly after he was transported down here, which leads me to believe he's in a safe zone. If we can use it, we can simply use Teleport Crystals to get out. So… I apologize, but I'll have to rely on you just a bit longer."

Yulier lowers her head with a frown, but Kirito waves it off, "No, it's alright. We're doing this because we want to. Besides, items are dropping as well, so..."

Hanna glances at him curiously., when she'd been fighting there _had_ been some ok stuff dropping considering the mobs were only level 60, but there'd been nothing of particular interest, "Oh? Anything good?"

Kirito grins at her, "Yup!"

Quickly opening and navigating his menu, he materialized an item. Hanna stares at it blankly, "... That's a _toad leg_ Kirito. There's _nothing_ _good_ about that."

Kirito's grin widens, "They say the stranger it is, the better it tastes! I'm gonna make Asuna cook it later!"

Hanna narrows her eyes, "You must certainly are _**not**_."

Kirito pouts, "I am!"

Hanna stares him down for a moment, then looks away, "I'm not helping you convince her." Kirito slumps at that. They both knew Asuna wouldn't cook something like _that_ unless it was part of her bribery. Seeing Kirito trying to muster up some sort of argument out of the corner of her eye, she lifts her head, sticking her nose up with a huff, "And if you _**somehow**_ manage to convince her to cook that and eat it, I'm not kissing you for a _month_."

Kirito tries to pull out the big guns at that point, pouting and whining in a way he _**knew**_ she struggles to say no to, "But Haaannnaaa-"

Taking a sharp breath in through her nose she snatches it out of his hand, turns, and throws it down the hallway as hard as she can in retribution for him trying to pull _that_ over something so _gross_ , "No way! Not happening!"

Kirito makes a noise of shocked protest, "W-What are you doing?! Damn it! Fine then..." She hears him turn and accesses his menu again while he's muttering, and by the time she's whirled around he's got both arms full of the disgusting things, "How about this then!"

Hanna lunges towards him, grabbing them one by one and chucking them over her shoulders, "No! No, no, no, no!"

Kirito gapes at her, "Hanna! That's _**food**_!"

Hanna scowls, "Oh yea? You wanna eat it so bad then here!"

With that she promptly shoves the last toad leg into his mouth. He makes a muffled noise of disgust and protest, barely managing to mumble around it, "That's raw! You-"

Their bickering is broken into when they hear Yui happily say, "You smiled!" Turning their gazes towards the two, they see Yui beaming at Yulier, "That's the first time you've _really_ smiled, nee-chan!"

Yulier gives her a startled look for a moment, then smiled softly at her, which Yui enthusiastically returns. Turning back to Kirito she realizes just how ridiculous their behavior must seem by normal people's standards. Shaking her head at her ridiculous mate, and admittedly at herself at least a little, she pulls the toad leg out of Kirito's mouth and tosses it over her shoulder.

Reaching down, she gently grabs Yui's hand with a warm smile, "Come on, let's go."

* * *

Over the course of the next two hours, the remaining quarter of the total distance steadily disappears. The monsters also steadily got stronger and shifted from aquatic type to undead type mobs. During that time, Yui began to grow tired again, and by the time they see the safe zone begin to come into view past a junction around a steady bend, she's sound asleep on Hanna's back.

Hanna tilts her head, "There's the safe zone."

Beside her, Kirito tilts his head in the manner usual to him using the listening skill, "There's one player inside."

Yulier stops in her tracks and glances back at him briefly. Turning forwards again, she stares at the light in the distance with slight disbelief, then takes off running, "Thinker!"

Kirito reaches out as though to stop her, but she's already a fair distance away. Sharing a quick glance, they both run to catch up. Their eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness of the dungeon, so the bright white light coming from the room was nearly blinding, but they could just barely make out the silhouette of someone in the doorway. They couldn't make out his face obviously, given the bright light behind him and the distance between them, but they could make out that he was waving his arms wildly, "Yulier!"

Yulier lifts her hand to wave it in greeting as she speeds up, "Thinker!"

Hanna shares a smile with Kirito, but they're startled by Thinker shouting desperately, "Stay back! That corridor is-"

Immediately both Kirito and Hanna slowed slightly as caution kicks in, but Yulier doesn't seem to hear him and continues to run straight for the safe zone. It's then, that off to the side a name appears, «The Fatal Scythe». With a 'the' at the beginning of its name, it was very obviously a boss of some sort, likely a mini-boss, given they were most certainly _not_ at a boss room. She also realizes that with the speed the name and cursor were approaching, and Yulier's own speed, the boss would go through the junction just as Yulier reached it herself.

Hanna quickly shifts Yui from her back into her arms as she slows further, desperately calling out, "Stop! Yulier, come back!"

Kirito however, having seen the same thing she had, pushes his agility to it's limit. In the seconds between Yulier reaching the junction, and the boss meeting Yulier, Kirito manages to grab onto Yulier from behind and push his sword into the ground. Normally, the ground was labeled as an «Immortal Object», but that rule was lifted in dungeons. Thus Kirito's Elucidator quickly became an emergency brake of sorts, managing to stop them just inches from a massive scythe that effortlessly slices a large gash into the ground. Instantly the walls and ceiling begin to glow in indication of a boss fight being initiated, glowing lines of purple spreading through the space between bricks on the ceiling and the walls looking like a purple and blue night sky.

She doesn't really manage to get a look at the boss before it continues on a bit past the junction into the corridor beyond, only glimpsing a black and red cape. Kirito chases after it to buy time for Yulier and Yui to reach the safe zone.

Uneasy with leaving her mate to fight something like that alone for long, she rushes over to the stunned Yulier and quickly sets Yui down, "Yulier! Please take Yui and retreat to the safe zone! And don't leave it until we tell you it's safe!"

Yulier hesitates for the briefest second, irritating Hanna to no end, then scrambles back up to her feet, "R-Right!"

Yui turns to Hanna, "Mama…"

Yulier pulls her away however, leading her towards the safe zone, "Let's go."

Hanna only watches until she's sure they reach the safe zone, then after drawing her Falcata, she hurries around the corner to her mate. Her mate tensely stood both blades drawn, and in front of him was the boss which seemed to be the Grim Reaper.

Narrowing her eyes at the boss, she lifts her weapon into a ready stance, just then, Kirito tensely says, "Hanna... It's level 95."

Hanna tightens her grip on her sword at those words, it was only seven levels below them. Most players wouldn't be comfortable with a safety margin of seven levels for _regular_ _mobs_ , for a _**boss**_? Hanna shakes her head, "We can handle it. We just need to be careful."

Kirito hesitates, then nods tensely. The boss had been slowly drifting towards them as they spoke, and Kirito yanked his swords into a guard when it suddenly burst into movement, swinging its weapon at him quickly. Kirito barely manages to hold his guard, and still he gets pushed back several feet. Hanna worries about him, of course she does, but there isn't time for worry right now, so without hesitation she speeds around to it's back and begins attacking at as fast as she can. Having had plenty of practice with Osiris in the real world, when she sees it shift its grip on its weapon and begin to turn towards her quickly, she jumps back as she doesn't have her mates strength stat and definitely can't successfully block the attack she could tell was coming. She's already safety outside the range of its scythe by the time it attacks, turning towards her and swinging its weapon in the same smooth motion.

Kirito darts forward from its spot behind it to start wailing on its back. Carefully staying outside of its range while it's still focused on her, Hanna chances a glance up, clutching her jaw when she sees she'd barely touched the first of it's two health bars. Kirito only seemed to be doing marginally better with his higher strength stat. Waiting til it begins to shift its attention back to her mate, she jumps back in while he jumps away on the other side of the boss. For the next half hour they play some sort of strange version of keep away with the boss, barely managing to take a tenth of its health.

Of course, that's when things go wrong. The boss let's out a shriek towards her mate, then whirling around in a circle, catches Hanna halfway through its spin with its blade when she's just a _bit_ to slow jumping away. She gets swept up by the blade and thrown at her mate with enough force to send them both flying back a good twenty feet. Before Hanna can even regain her bearings her mate is grabbing her around her waist and jumping back just in time for them to avoid being hit by the scythe again. In the background she can hear the other three shouting from the safe zone.

Kirito glances at her as he sets her down, "You ok?"

Hanna shakes her head to dispel the last of her disorientation, "Yea. I- I think so." Glancing up and to the left to assess the damage she hisses, "That took off a fifth of my health!"

Kirito's jaw tightens, "... Hanna-"

She shoots him a glare, " _Don't you even say it!_ _I'm_ _ **not leaving**_ _!"_

Kirito huffs out a breath, "... Fine. What are we supposed to do though? We _**might**_ be able to force a victory with some Healing Crystals and a lot of caution, but… That was just regular attack. If that thing uses a skill…"

She can't quite stop herself from snapping at that, " _ **I know!**_ " Then she forces herself to take a deep breath, her mate didn't deserve her frustration and anger at the situation to be pushed onto him. Calmer, she continues. "I know. I'm not leaving you though, and I doubt we can just make a run for the safe zone. That thing is _fast_."

Then, off to the side, Yulier's panicked voice catches their attention, "Yui! No!" They both immediately turn towards them, only to find Yui calmly walking away from the safe zone. Yulier and Thinker were at the entrance, but there seemed to be some sort of invisible barrier stopping them from retrieving Yui, which they were both pounding on desperately, "No please! Come back! It's to dangerous!"

Without so much as glancing at each other, Kirito and Hanna reach a silent agreement and shoot to their feet simultaneously. Kirito goes to distract the boss while Hanna gets Yui back to the safe zone. However neither of them makes it more than a couple steps before Yui glances at them with a sad smile, and they quite suddenly find themselves both falling down, now under the paralysis effect.

Yui stops between them and the boss, she doesn't look at them again, but she does address then sadly, "Mama, Papa, it's ok."

Hanna didn't know what in the entirety of hell, heaven, and earth was _**going on**_ , but her little girl was in between her and an _incredibly_ _ **dangerous**_ boss and this was _anything_ but _**ok**_ , "No! Yui, get back! _**Please!**_ "

Yui ignores her. Of course, the boss doesn't care that it's _'opponent'_ is just a child and swings its scythe down at her. Hanna screams, but Yui simply raises her hand. Then things get even weirder. The scythe simply bounces off of Yui's hand, throwing the boss back, and a small purple warning box appears reading, «Immortal Object». Hanna stares, unable to comprehend what she's seeing. Defying the rules of the game, Yui floats off the ground and hovers in front of the boss. Holding her hand out in front of her, flames appeared out of nowhere, condensing in her hand before forming into a massive sword covered in flames. As though burnt away by the fire, the clothes they'd given her disappear, leaving her in just her white dress once again.

Yui casually swings the massive sword above her head, then without any hesitation drifted towards the floated towards the boss and brings the sword down on it. It lifts its scythe in a block, and a loud 'CLANG' as the weapons meet, but after a moment Yui's sword cleaves through the weapon and slams into the face of the boss. For a moment Yui holds the sword there, then she drifts away and the boss is engulfed in a violent sphere of flames, disintegrating within seconds. Yui lands as the sphere shrinks, then it bursts, disappearing entirely.

For a moment there's total silence in the corridor, then the paralysis disappears. Hanna and Kirito hesitantly push themselves to their feet, sharing baffled looks. Hanna stares at the back of the little girl who seems to be refusing to look at them, then hesitantly, "Yui?"

There's another pause, then Kirito tries to get her attention, "Yui."

Finally, Yui speaks, "Papa… Mama." She finally turns to them with a sad bitter smile and tears in her eyes, "I remember everything now."

They share another look, but Yui seems reluctant to elaborate, so Hanna clears her throat, "Ah… Well, why don't we… why don't we retreat to the safe zone… So we don't have to worry about anymore mobs…"

Yui nods reluctantly, then leads the way. Upon reaching the safe zone, the barrier disappears. Thinker and Yulier, having been leaning in it in shock, both stumble out and stare at them with gaping mouths as the three pass before hesitantly following them back in and lingering by the door.

Thinker is the first to break the silence, "Who- Who _is_ she?"

Hanna glances at him momentarily, "Kirito and I… We found her near our home… She passed out, and when she woke up she couldn't remember anything but her name… And her menu and cursor have been glitching since we found her…"

Yui smiles bitterly at that from where she'd seated herself on a big slab of black stone in the middle of the room, "They aren't glitching." She takes a deep breath, "Kirito. Hanna." The use of their actual names is like knife to Hanna's heart, but it wasn't unexpected, so though tears begin to burn her eyes, she says nothing as Yui continues, "This world, Sword Art Online, is controlled by a single, immense system. The system is called Cardinal. This system was designed to operate without any human intervention. It regulates the balance of SAO according to its own discretion. From monster and NPC AI to drop rates for items and money. Everything is controlled by the processes executed by the Cardinal program. Even the psychological care of the players was meant to be handled by the system…"

Yui lowers her head, "Do you remember… When you accessed my menu…. What my name was down as?"

Kirito hesitates, "Yui-MHCP001…"

Yui is silent for a moment, "MHCP… Mental Health Counseling Program, prototype 1… Codename: Yui…" She lifts her head with another sad smile, "That's me."

Hanna's eyes widen in shock, "A program? You mean… You're an AI?"

Yui nods in a dejected manner, "So as to not make players uncomfortable, I was given the ability to emulate emotion." She smiles bitterly as she lowers her head far enough that they can't see her eyes, and tears begin to slide down her face, "I'm not real… Nothing about me is. Not even these tears… I'm sorry, Hanna…"

Hanna's heart feels like it's being stabbed again, "Yui… If they aren't real… Then why is it you can't seem to stop…"

Yui shakes her head without replying, and Kirito finally decides to rejoin the conversation, "But you had amnesia… How does something like that even _happen_ to an AI… I mean, I suppose if the AI's memory data got corrupted, but…"

Yui is quiet for a moment, seeming to collect her thoughts, her tears still flowing freely, "... The NerveGear has the unique ability to monitor the emotions of the players. Should they need help, I was designed to appear at their side and render aid in any way I could… That's also why I have the ability to place players under paralysis, so as to immobilize players when necessary… However, two years ago, the day the game launched… For reasons I never understood, Cardinal forbade me from interacting with any of the players. I was forced to do nothing but continue to monitor the players' mental states. Their mental states… were utterly horrible. Terror, despair, rage. People were overcome by negative feelings. Some of them went completely insane. Normally, I would have gone to them immediately... But I wasn't permitted any contact with them. I… I was forced to watch as so many of them committed suicide… Unable to render aid... Gradually, errors occurred within me, and I fell apart…"

Hanna covers her mouth, tears running down her face at what Yui was forced to go through. However, Yui isn't finished speaking, "But… Amongst the players, I saw two whose mental parameters were almost constantly different from the rest. It was you two, and you were so different than anyone else. Joy, peace… So many emotions. Good emotions. Most of which I didn't even know the name for, but they made you so happy… Though I couldn't talk to you, I wanted to get closer, even if only a little… So even though I wasn't supposed to, everyday for a month I manifested myself at the system console closest to your home and wandered around the floor… I was considerably broken down at that point…"

Understanding washes over Hanna, "So then, that's why you were near our home?"

Yui nods even as she continues to cry, "Yes. Kirito, Hanna… I've wanted to meet you for so long. It's strange, isn't it? It should be impossible for me to think like that. I'm only a program… I shouldn't possess desires other than to carry out my assigned tasks… And yet… When I saw you two the day you found me… I felt so happy…"

Hanna clutches her hands together tightly, "Yui… Having your own desires, and being able to act on them without permission… As far as I know, that's how we tell the difference between programs and _people_. You- You aren't just a program anymore."

Yui shakes her head, "I- I don't know if that's true… I don't know what's happened to me…"

Kirito walks forward a couple steps, stooping down and bracing his hands on his knees so as to be even with Yui's eyes, "No, she's right. You aren't just a program that the system controls anymore. So you should be able to say what it is that you want. What do you want?"

Yui's tears finally stop flowing for a bit, though they linger in her eyes, "I…" She lifts her hands towards them, as she had so many times already during their time together to indicate her desire to be picked up or held, "I… I want to stay with you forever… Papa, Mama!"

That's all it takes for her to start crying again, and Hanna doesn't hesitate to dash forward and wrap her arms around Yui, who eagerly returns her embrace, "Then stay."

She feels Kirito's arms wrap around both of them, "Right. Let's just go home, Yui."

For a moment, they blissfully hold each other, but then Yui's arms loosen, "... I can't. It's too late…"

They both pull away to look at her, but it's Kirito who gives voice to their worry, "Too late?"

Yui leans away a bit, then turns to look down at the black slab she'd been sitting on and places a hand on it, "This console grants GMs emergency access to the system. I accidentally touched it earlier when Yulier was trying to pull me into the room. It allowed Cardinal's error correction program to fix my corrupted memory and damaged language program." As she's speaking, blue lines spread out from under her hand, and some of them form what looks like a keyboard, "Surely you noticed it? That boss, though it was labeled level 95, was much stronger than it should've been. It was placed there to keep players away. I accessed the system with the console to delete the boss, but… Cardinal is running a scan over me now, because I accessed the system in such a way. Given that I disobeyed its orders and acted out, it will label me a rogue program and delete me."

Tears appear in Hanna's eyes, "No…"

Kirito shakes his head, "Isn't there some way around that?"

Yui is silent for a few seconds as she stares at the ground, but then she lifts her head and gives them a sad smile, "Papa, Mama, thank you. For everything." Tears gather in her eyes again, "This is goodbye."

Hanna clutches her eyes shut tightly, then lunges forward to hold Yui again, "No! I- I don't want that! This is just the beginning! It can't be the end already!"

Yui sniffs, "When I was alone, in that dark place, suffering myself as I watched my players' own despair, unable to help anyone… Papa and Mama… You were my only solace."

Her eyes snap open desperately as a glow seeps through her eyelids, only to find her fears already coming true as Yui begins to glow. Kirito darts forward desperately, grabbing onto Yui's hand with both of his own as though he could keep her there if he held on tightly enough, "Yui, don't go!"

Yui doesn't react, simply continues to lean against Hanna with a sad smile as she slowly grows brighter, "Everyone smiles when they're with you, Papa, Mama. Please… From now on, go and help people in my place. Share your happiness."

Hanna shakes her head as best she can without letting go of her tight hold on Yui as her tears fall heavier, "No… No! How- How are we supposed to smile if you go?!"

Yui lifts her hand and places it against Hanna's cheek, "Mama, please smile…"

And just like that, Hanna's arms are empty of her and her mate's little bundle of joy, only Yui's rapidly disintegrating hand left, still lightly pressed to her cheek. Hanna stumbles away from the slab before falling to her knees and covering her mouth with her hands, no longer able to control the sobs erupting from her.

Kirito was silent for a moment as he stared at where Yui had been, then he lifted his gaze to the ceiling as he shouted, "Cardinal! No, Kayaba!" Turning, he began to type rapidly at the keyboard displayed on the slab, "Don't think things will always go the way you want them to!"

Hanna lowers her hands from her face as hope crashes through her. Could her brilliant mate truly do something? With that thought, Hanna just barely manages to pull herself back together, "Kirito, what are-"

She can't bring herself to finish the question, as though voicing it will only make it more painful if her mate can't do the impossible. He hurriedly answers her anyway though, "If I act now- If I act now, I can probably still use this GM account to access the system."

As he continues to frantically type, a strange holographic looking screen appears above the slab, displaying what just looks like a mess of numbers and letters to Hanna. Her mate seems be able to read it though, as he gazes at it with a fierce intensity usually only seen in combat as he continues to type like their lives depend on it. In a way, they do. After a moment, a bar appears and rapidly fills in, but at the same time the whole console, both the slab and holographic display, begin to glow white, getting brighter with alarming speed. Then, just as the bar fills, the light pulses and Kirito is sent flying.

She rushes to his side in worry, "Kirito! Are you okay?"

Rather than answer, her mate roughly shoves a closed hand out to her. After a moment if simply staring at it, Hanna hesitantly brings her own hand up to accept whatever it is he's attempting to give her, and Kirito gently deposits a small ice blue tear shaped crystal.

Hanna stares at it in confusion, "What is this?"

Hanna's attention is drawn to her mate as Kirito slowly pushes himself into a sitting position, "Before Yui's admin credentials were denied, I spilt of her main program and turned it into a game object."

Hanna's eyes widen as they return to the crystal in her hand, "Then… this is…"

Kirito smiles slightly, "Yui's heart."

Tears well up in Hanna's eyes again as gently closes her hand around the suddenly fragile looking gem, then presses her hand tightly to her chest as though to protect the little girl from harm. A moment later she lunges forward to clutch her mate to her tightly with her free hand, and he gently returns the embrace, running a hand through her hair soothingly when she buries her face into his neck and starts crying again.

After a few minutes of this, she pulls away and wipes the tears from her face. Just then, a hesitant female voice speaks up, "Then… Yui-chan is… safe?"

They both turn in shock, having forgotten that Yulier and Thinker were still there during the emotional rollercoaster they'd just gone through. Though, now that Hanna thought about it, she thinks she'd heard them make reactive noises throughout the entire ordeal, but she'd been so focused on her family she hadn't consciously registered then.

Kirito nods lightly with a slight smile, "Yes. She is."

Thinker hesitates briefly, "But… When Aincrad is beaten… What will happen to her?"

Hanna gasps with shock and worry, as the thought hadn't even crossed her mind, but when she twists around quickly to look at her mate in question, he's smiling reassuringly at her, "Don't worry. I set it so she'll download directly to my NerveGear."

Hanna breaths a sigh of relief. It had been silly to doubt her brilliant mate. Though she knows he dislikes it when people see them like that, she's unable to stop herself from yanking him forward and kissing him for his brilliance.

His arms flail momentarily before he pulls away beat red, "Hanna! There are _people_ _**here**_!"

She just laughs, even if he is being stupid about people seeing them, "Come here and let me kiss you, you brilliant idiot!"

His face scrunches up, "That's an oxymoron!"

She huffs, " _ **You're**_ an oxymoron!'

He gives her a utterly baffled look as he continues to struggle to keep her from kissing him in front of other people, " _What's that even supposed to_ _ **mean**_ _?!_ "

Hanna can't help but giggle, "It means that for all your brilliance, your a total _moron_ , that's what! Now shut up and _let me kiss you_!"

Just then, Yulier and Thinker giggle and chuckle respectively, pulling their attention to the two. Kirito blushes even brighter, while Hanna just gives them a cheeky grin, "We're a bit busy right now."

Kirito huffs, "No we definitely are _**not**_."

Hanna shoots her mate a look, and Yulier struggles to get her amusement under control, "We should probably be heading back."

Kirito points at her, frantically glancing between her and Hanna, "Right! Exactly! We need to get going!"

Hanna laughs again, unable to help herself with how ridiculous her mate can act around other people sometimes. Then Hanna's smile slips, "... How are we gonna tell Sasha? If we come back without Yui and don't explain… I'm sure she'll draw the worst conclusions… She adores kids so much… I couldn't bare to let her think that."

Kirito looks away with a frown, then climbs to his feet, "... I suppose we'll just have to hope she believes us…"

Yulier takes a step forward, "I- I'll help convince her… If I can."

Hanna nods, then accepts her mate's hand to help her up. Straightening her clothes, she suddenly remembers something, and turns to glare at Thinker, startling him, "You and I are going to have a _**talk**_ about trusting people like _**Kibaou**_."

He lifts his hands quickly in surrender as he takes a step back, then glances at Yulier and Kirito. Finding only angry agreement and amusement respectively, he gives her a nervous look, "T-That really isn't necessary. I've definitely learned my lesson-"

Hanna's glare intensifies, "Then I'll make sure the lesson _**sticks**_." He gulps nervously, and she stares him down for a moment longer before letting up and nodding decisively, "I'm sure there are some sort of rules to stop guild leaders from running off with all the money a guild has, so once we've had our _**talk**_ , _you_ are going to take as much of your funds as you can, all the members in your guild loyal to you, and cut ties with the Army." Then she gives them a dark grin, "Trust me, you don't want to have anything to do with them considering what I'm about to do." Thinker begins to protest, but she cuts him off, "Our first day back in the Town of Beginnings we had to stop a group of them from _extorting children_."

Shame crosses Thinker's face and he closes his eyes, "... Did things truly get so bad while I was gone?"

Yulier looks at her feet with a guilty expression, "I'm afraid so… I'm so sorry Thinker, I tried to stop them, I did! But-"

Thinker shakes his head, "I couldn't stop them Yulier, even though I was suppose to be their guild leader. Of course you couldn't. I don't blame you at all." Yulier gives him a small relieved smile, then Thinker sighs again as he turns back to Hanna before nodding, "Give us a day to get everything done. Then they're all yours. That behavior… It's got to stop."

Hanna grins, "You've got until noon on the third."

Thinker eyes her, "... For a teenage girl, you're terrifying, you know that?"

Hanna just lets her grin widen.

* * *

November 2nd, 2024- 728 days since SAO launch:

Hanna marches up the path to the guild as Kirito trails behind her in amusement. The guild they were visiting was called «Kitsunes of Chaos». It was Diabel's guild. It wasn't designed as your typical guildhall of that size though, with a entry way leading off into various facilities like the dining hall, armory, storage, practice arena, dorms, and 'offices' for the higher ups. Diabel's preferred method of manipulating people was to seem friendly with them. So the cold impersonal layout of most guilds their size didn't work for him. Instead, it lacked an entry hall, leading straight into the dining hall, which had been crossed with a tavern, with the halls to the rest of the usual facilities branching off of it instead. At the end of the dining hall, the bar rested on a slightly raised platform, and one could usually find Diabel at the dead center of the bar, the best place to easily be the center of attention or fade into the background depending on what the situation called for.

So with all that being as it was, upon reaching the front doors Hanna threw them open without hesitation and was unsurprised to find her friend in his usual spot. She didn't even slow her stride as she shoves the doors out of her way and marches straight up to him, angrily shouting, "Diabel!"

It was astonishing how quickly the guildhall fell silent at that, and her friend jerks so hard he ends up throwing whatever he was drinking straight over his shoulder, mug and all, as a panicked look takes over his formerly warmly grinning face, " _ **Ididn'tdoit!**_ "

She pauses right in front of him to glare suspiciously, "... Didn't do what?"

He stares at her nervously for a moment, "Uhh…. Whatever it is you're pissed off about?"

Hanna narrows her eyes further, "Why did you automatically _assume_ it's you I'm pissed off at."

He snorts, "Self-preservation, though given the nature of Aincrad, not so much self-preservation of the _living_ variety. Everything else is fair game though. Like my reputation. Honestly what do you expect? You came marching in here all but screaming in your 'I'm _Furious_ and there are going to be _**Consequences**_ voice'. It's just best to assume I'm the reason and start immediately denying and/or groveling in apology."

She continues to regard him suspiciously, trying to decide if he's serious or if he actually did something that would piss her off and simply trying to cover his tracks now that he realizes she didn't know. After a few moments, she comes to the conclusion he's being honest, which surprisingly isn't that rare, when it comes to _**her**_ anyway, and crosses her arms, "I'm not mad at _you_."

Diabel breaths a sigh of relief, "Oh thank god." Then he gives her a weary look, but not with the same level of worry as before, "Ok. What'd my _guild_ do?"

That draws uneasy shifting from the dead silent guildhall. Being the closest _actual_ friend to their guild leader, they were… _painfully_ familiar with how she could get when she lost her temper. She huffs, "I'm not angry at your guild either."

That draws relief from just about everyone in the hall, minus Kirito who was struggling to contain his amusement, and Diabel relaxes for the first time since she came storming in, " _Oh thank god_." Then he grins at her, "Well then! My _dearest_ Hanna, given that you came in here shrieking your pretty little head off, if you aren't here because you're mad at me, and you aren't angry with something my guild's done, then you must be here wanting my help getting back at whatever pissed you off! So! How can I help you?"

Hanna doesn't hesitate with her answer, "Gather up your best players. Starting noon tomorrow, we are going Army hunting."

Diabel tilts his head in confusion, "We're what?"

Hanna huffs, "Kirito and I were a bit busy which is why we didn't come as soon as I decided what to do about it, but the day before yesterday while we were in the Town of Beginnings taking care of some personal business we came across a group from the Army extorting _children_ under the guise of collecting taxes. After speaking to some of the people who live there we discovered that it's a common occurrence there."

Diabel's eyes darken, and there are hisses of anger from his guildmates around them. Diabel was a manipulative little shit, there was no doubt about that, but he _did_ possess his own sense of morals, and messing with kids was a big no-no in general for him. His voice is nearly a hiss with his anger, " _I see_. So! What's your plan, oh brilliant leader?"

Hanna grins viciously at him, "Well, as we confirmed that day, the sort of in town fighting that guilds use for mock duels _terrifies_ those cowards. So as I said, _we_ , are going Army hunting, with the goal of breaking as much of their equipment as possible. Either they'll stick around while we break their shit or they'll panic and use Crystals to escape. Either way, the cost will rack up quickly, that _guild_ , if you can call it that will collapse under debt and be forcibly disbanded. After that, it's former members will probably be too scared to try it again."

Diabel grins widely, "Oh my dearest Hanna, you let me have such _**fun**_ sometimes."

She returns his grin as the members if Diabel's guild chuckle gleefully, then tilts her head, "Just remember that you can't start until noon tomorrow."

Diabel gives her a look of confusion, "Why? We could be ready to go in an hour and a half, tops."

Hanna shakes her head, "Because the leader of the Army and his faction are actually _decent_ people. The guild simply got too big and someone who really shouldn't have it gained power. I gave them until them to take as much of the guild's stuff as the system will allow, spread the word to the members of the guild that are actually good people that it's best to jump ship, and cut ties so my plan doesn't affect people who don't deserve it."

Diabel nods slowly, "Fair enough. So, noon tomorrow it is. You and Kirito gonna be joining us, or are we on our own with this. Not that I'm complaining, I'm doing this _ **happily**_."

Hanna shrugs, "We made a deal with Lizbeth, a friend of ours, that'll take up some of our time, but we'll come help when we can." Then her grin widens, "And Diabel? If you're _happy_ to do it now, you'll probably be ecstatic to do it when I tell you the best part."

Diabel raises his eyebrows, "Oh? And what's that?"

She gives him an absolutely _unholy_ grin, "The asshole we're screwing over, the one who came to power within the Army? It's _**Kibaou**_."

The gleeful _cackle_ that erupts from Diabel at that would child chill the hearts of even the bravest of people.


	27. The End is just The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha! Authoress has been sticking to the schedule she gave herself! Let's just hope I can keep it up!

November 7th, 2024- 733 days since SAO launch:

It was 2:20 in the afternoon, and Lily was in the living room, curled into Dante's side on the couch when the doorbell from the shop located in Japan rang. Reluctant to have her cuddling with her mate interrupted she waited a moment in the hopes someone else would go see who was in the shop. To her relief, Kyrie passed by the doorway, giving her a small understanding smile as she went by to answer the door leading into the house itself from the shop. Kyrie understood why she wouldn't get the door though she was closer, the only reason _she_ didn't have that problem was because Nero was out on a job.

Satisfied that she wouldn't have to move, she let out a content sigh, there was nothing better than curling up with your mate and a good book. However, as she tried to return to her book, she heard Kyrie's warm greeting get cut off by Kikuoka's hurried voice asking for them. Sharing a worried look with her mate, they stood up and went to the door.

Rounding the corner, she sees Kyrie closing the door behind Kikuoka. As soon as he spots them, he gives them a grim look, "I need your son to come to the hospital with me."

Lily shares an alarmed look with Dante, then nous nods firmly, "I'll floo Severus. He should be in class, but Hogwarts can't say no if I say it's a family emergency."

With that, she hurries off to collect her son, praying to every deity she can think of that her daughter and Kazuto will be ok at the very least. She knows it's selfish of her to only really be worrying about them, but at the moment, she can't bring herself to care.

* * *

Mike stumbles and has to hold onto the door frame when he tries to enter Marzanna's room. He's reminded of the first time he'd come to see his sister, but it wasn't pain that nearly drove him to his knees this time. It's the sheer amount of _emotion_ flooding their bond now that he's close enough to feel such things through it.

His mother's eyes dart between him and his sister with worry, so he forces himself under control to reassure her as best he can, managing to gasp out, "Emotions. She's-... scared…." It doesn't really ease his mother's worry, "Not- Not for herself…. But… She's _**terrified**_."

Kikuoka frowns, "... Then whatever it is, it's still going on. Which means I can't find out what's happening right now…."

Mike finally got himself under control to a degree, and stumbled over to the chair he usually sat in, tiredly flopping into it, "... Not necessarily. I don't know if the device can be tweaked like that, but _theoretically_ , if you set it to see what I see instead of hovering over my shoulder, and I looked at her most recent memories…. _Theoretically_ , you could see for yourself what's going on, from Marzanna's point of view. Though, unlike me, you won't be privy to what she's thinking and feeling, you'll just see and hear what she does. Assuming it works of course."

Kikuoka glances at the technician that maintains and runs the equipment in question and receives a shrug, "Changing where we get the data from, in this case to Mike instead of the 'diamond' is easy, it would only take a couple minutes, but I don't know if that'll let us see the memories."

Kikuoka nods, "Do it. There's no reason not to try, and if it doesn't work, Mike can simply tell me himself."

Once the device had been modified and Mike was hooked up, he took a deep breath, then entered his sister's mind. Stepping out of the 'mirror portal' is like stepping _into_ a tornado, and Mike's eyes snap open in alarm. Sure enough, before him was a massive twisting column of turbulent air with scraps of paper being violently thrown around inside, and multiple colors of what looked like lightning dancing through it, coming _from_ it. He has to quickly duck as a bolt of lightning that's dual colored, a sickly yellow and the same exact shade of the killing curse, tries to strike him, as though in warning.

Without the 'diamond' Kikuoka's incredulous voice seems to come from everywhere at once, though it doesn't echo, "What the _hell_ is _**that**_?!"

Mike eyes it in worry, despite the fact they can hear everything he does, he has to shout just to hear hear himself over the wind as he explains, "Usually for an Occlumency user as skilled and practiced as my sister, they don't have to manually sort memories, as they'll be sorted by their mind automatically. However, my sister's…. rather obviously turbulent emotions are inhibiting that skill!"

There's a brief pause, then Mike begins to make his way towards the tornado, causing Kikuoka to sputter in shock, " _What are you_ _ **doing?!**_ "

Mike gives an aggravated growl, "Are you stupid? Or do you just not listen when people actually answer your questions. I just told you what that is! Since you don't seem to understand though, allow me to spell it out. You see those scraps of paper in that thing? They're there for a reason. Some people organize thoughts and memories with orbs, some with crystals, my sister? My sister is a bookworm, she organizes it all into books. Those scraps of paper are the memories associated with whatever the hell is going on, and the lightning is her emotions. Getting it now Kikuoka? That thing is what we came here to know!"

Though he hadn't been far, the wind makes it difficult to approach, seeming to try and keep him away, but he pushes through to the edge of the tornado. However, he quickly finds that while the violent wind doesn't harm him, it makes a wall of wind as solid as stone. Pressing his hands to it, he stares in confusion before understanding washes over him.

His sister knew he was here. She was trying to _protect_ him from the knowledge. Somehow, though his voice is barely a whisper, he hears it better than even the shouting he'd done earlier, "Marzanna… Stop it. Stop trying to protect me…. You seem to be forgetting that I'm being dragged into a war against my will. I'll see people die in front of me eventually, and I've seen people die in your memories before, when our bond resynchronized…"

For a moment, nothing happened, the wind continuing to stubbornly make a solid barrier. Then, the wind seems to shudder beneath his palms, and becomes as much of an obstacle as a light breeze. Stepping through the storm with an ease that hasn't existed when he approached it, and finds himself in the eye of the storm, immediately getting swept away into her memories.

* * *

November 6th, 2024- 732 days since SAO launch:

If there was one thing that her mother had told her numerous times over the years that she hadn't understood until recently but _wholeheartedly_ agreed with, it was that there was nothing better than curling up with your mate and a good book. She sighs happily as she snuggles deeper into her mate's side before turning the page on the rather good in game lore book she'd found.

She was smugly happy at how the last few days had turned out. Fuurinkazan and the Moonlit Black Cats had been drawn into the Army hunting, and with the enthusiastic determination of the three guilds, herself, and her mate, the Army had been successfully crushed into non-existence within the past three days. Kirito and herself had even managed to get their agreement with Lizbeth taken care of, which meant Hanna now had a fantastic new Falcata. Not as good as Shuraba of course, but definitely better than what she'd been using recently. Honestly the only thing that hadn't worked out as she'd hoped was the fact Kibaou realized what was happening quick enough to teleport to an upper floor and get away, other than that though, the past few days had been fantastic. Even right now was great. She and her mate had gotten back from finishing off the Army early enough to have dinner at a decent time and were now curled up on the couch together. Life was good.

Of course, it was at that moment that someone knocked on their door. Figuring it had to be one of their friends dropping by for a visit, Hanna left her mate's side with some reluctance and answers the door with a cheerful smile, "Asuna! What..."

Her happy greeting trails off as she notices the grim look on her friend's face. She heaves a sigh as her shoulders slump. This was Aincrad, of _**course**_ things couldn't just stay fantastic for a bit.

Opening the door wider with a sudden weary fatigue she nods behind her, "Come on in. Kirito's in the living room, let's go back in there before you deliver the bad news, as I'm sure I want to hear it twice about as much as you'd like to talk a about it more than once. Besides, Kirito's probably getting worried at this point."

Asuna nods solemnly, giving her shoulder a brief squeeze in understanding and comfort as she slips past Hanna. Seating herself on the couch across from them, Asuna waits until Hanna has settled back down next to Kirito before beginning grimly, "I was contacted by Heathcliff a short while ago…" Hanna scowls angrily, but before she can say anything, Asuna holds up a hand to stop her, "About the 75th floor boss. As per our agreement, I'm under their jurisdiction, to a degree, when it comes to bosses."

Kirito frowns, "I would assume that would mean you're here to inform us of the next raid… But you're…. way too upset, for it to be just that."

Asuna sighs tiredly, "... As I'm sure you know, with how the 25th and 50th floor went, the lead guilds that are large enough to do it have been sending out larger scouting parties than usual for labyrinth mapping… Today, a group of twenty from the KOB found the boss room…. However, when they opened the door to get a look at the boss so we have an idea of what to expect…. nothing happened. They waited for ten minutes, but the boss didn't show itself. Eventually, half the group went in, hoping to trigger the boss' appearance…." Asuna pauses to collect herself, before continuing, "The doors closed and sealed behind them, then opened five minutes later, but there was no sign of the first group that had entered, nor the boss. The second group came back with the mapping data, and someone was sent down to check the Memorial of Life. All ten players in the first group have been confirmed dead."

Hanna squeezed her eyes shut, and Kirito tightens his hold on her waist. For a moment, all three of them silently mourn the loss of ten more lives to Aincrad, then Kirito sighs, "An Anti-Crystal trap. I suppose it's to be expected, the last boss room was like that...So basically, the boss raid is soon, but we have no idea what to expect other than that we won't be able to retreat no matter how badly the fight goes."

Asuna nods grimly, "I was instructed that we'll be meeting at the Teleport Gate in Yurinia tomorrow, and heading out at two."

Hanna shares a worried glance with her mate, then nods at Asuna, "We'll be there."

* * *

The pull into Marzanna's memories had been sudden and rough, lacking the usual smooth transition akin to a good movie that Marzanna's memories usually had, as had the shift from one memory to the next. So it was with a mental sensation that felt like a stumble that Mike found himself in the next memory. Seeing nothing interesting going on immediately, she'd just teleported into Yurinia, and the other front liners were staring at her and her mate as they moved away from the gate, he turns his attention inwards with a mental shake of his head.

He can't _actually_ talk, seeing as he has absolutely zero control over Marzanna's body in the memory, so he sincerely hopes the others will hear him through the device as they normally would if he calls out to them mentally, _'Kikuoka? Can you hear me? Is it working?'_

Kikuoka's voice once again seems to come from all around him at the same time, "Yes. We're seeing her memories just like you."

At that moment, a grim sounding voice comes from behind Hanna, "Never had so many front liners participating in one raid before. Though, I suppose it's to be expected. Right Hanna?"

Hanna turns with a tense smile, "Diabel. You guys are participating in this one, huh?"

He gives her a tight smile of his own, "Well, we only stayed out of the last few because my guild's levels were falling a bit to low to continue going on boss raids safely. I got my members caught up, and we _were_ going to help out with the last one, but… Well, Kibaou tried to pull that moronic stunt and you guys had to save their sorry asses, though you know that better than I."

Hanna opens her mouth to say something, but another familiar voice interrupts, "Yo!"

Turning, she finds Klein and Agil standing behind herself and Kirito, Klein giving them his usual carefree grin as he raises his hand in greeting. Kirito smiles lightly and he gives Agil his usual fist bump in greeting, "What? You guys are coming too?"

Agil grins slightly in a joking manner, "You should be happy to see me. I shut my shop down to come help out. You don't even understand my selfless desire to help?"

Kirito grins in mischief, "Is that so? In that case, we'll remove you from the item drop list."

Agil hold his hands up in front of him, "No need to be hasty! I wouldn't take it that far…"

That draws laughter from Hanna, Klein, and Diabel, and a grin from her mate. Hanna is aware people are staring at them like they're crazy, most of them are tense with worry, and here their little group of friends is joking, but she honestly doesn't _care_. Surprisingly though, the laughter spreads to the other front liners, easing the nearly physical anxiety in the air. Their laughter trails off quickly as the Teleport Gate activates and everyone turns to see who it is that's arriving, as just about everyone else was already there. The Gate glows its usual blue for a moment before Heathcliff and a small group of KOB members comes through.

Heathcliff looks around, then nods firmly, most likely realizing that they'd simply been waiting on him. Moving away from the Gate, he makes his way to the front of the assembled players.

Mike, having been focusing entirely on the memory, is a bit disoriented when his mother's voice surrounds him, "Why did they call Marzanna Hanna earlier?"

Kikuoka is quick with his answer, likely not wanting to miss anything, "It's Marzanna's screen name. I imagine everyone in there except her soulmate knows her as Hanna. Now please, I don't want to risk missing anything important."

They hadn't though, the players had simply been watching Heathcliff make his way forward, who now stopped just a few feet from a large Roman looking archway before turning to look them over, "I'm sure you all already know the situation we're in, and the difficulty of what we're setting out to do, so I won't bother going over the details again. As such, we'll be heading out immediately."

He turns back around towards the archway, before holding up a Corridor Crystal, "Corridor: Open." The Crystal glows briefly, then shatters as a portal opens, and Heathcliff sweeps his gaze over the players, "Now, let's go."

Without another word, he turns and heads through the portal. The players glance between each other, then begin to go through the portal. Stepping through the portal is like stepping through a wall of water, but without getting wet. Hanna ignores the strange sensation as she walks through next to Kirito, the last to go through, and looks around to study their surroundings.

She frowns, "I've got a really bad feeling about this… This place… It's really elaborate looking…"

Kirito nods grimly, "Yea…"

After taking part in all previous seventy-five floor boss raids up to to this point, they could roughly gage the bosses strength by its' lair, and while it wasn't unexpected, given that this was the seventy-fifth boss fight, the final quarter milestone before the end up itself, Hanna was genuinely worried upon laying eyes on the dark but elegant lair.

Kirito seems to try to gather his thoughts, murmuring too low for anyone to hear, "Marzanna…"

But she understands, knows what he's trying to say, and she'll protect him too, "Yea."

Heathcliff stands in front of the boss door, then pulls his shield from his back, resting the end on the ground in front of him, "Is everyone ready? The Knights of the Blood will take charge of holding the boss' attacks back. While we do, the rest of you will study the it's attack patterns, and prepare to change tactics as necessary. It will be a difficult battle, but I have faith that we can prevail. For our liberation!"

The front liners roar in agreement at that, but Hanna just rolls her eyes, "He sure likes to make grandiose speeches, doesn't he?"

Kirito chuckles lightly. After a moment, Hanna drops her gaze to the ground, only to notice Kirito clutching his hand into a fist so tightly that it trembles, immediately she closes her own around it, "Don't worry so much."

His breath leaves him in a rush, "We know _nothing_ about this boss. So many things could go wrong, it's _ridiculous_."

Hanna sighs, and squeezes his hand tighter in reassurance, and lifts her gaze to his face with a slight smile, "Worrywart."

He huffs, "I am _not_. I just-" He cuts off the by now incredibly familiar argument, then sighs, "Yea. I'm worried."

Hanna gives him a reassuring smile, "It'll be ok."

He smiles slightly at her, but their attention is pulled away from each other by the sound of the boss room doors slowly opening, and they let go of each other's hands to draw their weapons. Hanna follows as Kirito steps up to be next to Klein, who has Agil on his other side, and he simply tells them, "Don't die."

Klein doesn't even glance at them, "Heh! Same to you two!"

Agil doesn't shift his focus either, "I'm gonna make a fortune off today's drops. I have no intention of dying."

Shooting the boys a fond smile, Hanna is startled by a voice from her other side, "Hanna. You and Kirito better not die either. It isn't made with any S-Class ingredients, but I discovered a recipe almost as delicious as Ragout Rabbit stew. So you two better make it and come over for dinner tonight."

Turning to the determined but smiling Asuna, she grins, "Hah! Kirito thinks with his stomach, so after saying something like that, there's no way we could die here."

Asuna's smile widens momentarily, then she shifts her gaze back to the almost fully open door. On Asuna's other side, Diabel gives her a mischievous wink, then shifts his focus as well. Hanna shares a smile her mate, then turns to the door. She and her mate are surrounded by their friends, and despite the previous worry Hanna finds her confidence swelling as a warm feeling of comradery washes over her. She takes a deep breath and turns serious as the door finally finishes opening with a low 'boom'.

When the door is open, there's a sight pause, then Heathcliff leads the charge into the room, the players spreading out as they enter. The room was simply a massive circular platform, and it was too dark to see the end of the room. Once everyone was in the room, there was a resounding 'boom' as the door closed, much quicker than it had opened, the disappeared entirely. There were a few tense moments of silence as everyone waited for the boss to show itself.

From near them, a player mutters, "Nothing's happening…."

There was another tense beat, then Asuna gasps in astonishment, before shouting in warning as her gaze snaps upwards, "Above us!"

Looking up, Hanna's eyes landed on a strange skeletal centipede looking thing. It was staring at them, but hadn't moved just yet, as it's name and five health bars appeared. Klein's voice was a touch incredulous, "The Skull…"

It was a tense Kirito that finished reading it, "-Reaper?!"

She could understand her mates sudden apprehension. The last time they'd met a boss related in any way to Reapers…. It suddenly shrieked at them and started to drop from the ceiling, causing Heathcliff to start barking out orders, "Don't group together! Stay away from it!"

However there were a couple players standing directly beneath it frozen in fear, and her mate called out to them frantically, "This way! Run!"

They finally seemed to gather themselves a bit, and began to run over, the boss landing a few feet behind them. As soon as it landed, the rooms color changed to an orange-red as the boss fight was officially initiated, and the Skull Reaper swung one of its large scythe like arms at the backs of the two players, throwing them with considerable force. Asuna darts forward a couple steps in an attempt to catch at least one of them to prevent them taking further damage, but they both burst into polygons just before they reach her, the blue fragments drifting through their stunned group.

For the first time in her memory since this death game started, Klein's voice is tinged with terror, "W-With one hit?!"

Agil's voice trembles slightly, "That's _insane_ …"

The boss observes them for a minute, then moves forward with terrifying speed, as it rushes a group of players, who understandably run away. One player is frozen with fear though, and the Skull Reaper rushes him. Just before it reaches the man, Heathcliff runs past him and stops the creatures scythe arm dead in its tracks with his shield. For a brief second, the boss and Heathcliff stared each other down, but then the Skull Reaper simply sides around the KOB guild leader and cuts the player in half effortlessly.

The boss rushes around the room ridiculously quickly, given its size, and next to them Agil murmurs, "We can't even get close to it!"

The Skull Reaper rushes two more players, bringing one of its scythes up for an overhead attack, and Kirito dashes forwards as fast as his agility stat will allow, barely making it in time to block the blow with a cross guard, "Get back!"

Her mate is driven down to a knee, but manages to hold the attack off, just barely. The Skull Reaper attempts to hit him with a sweeping attack with the other scythe, but Heathcliff stops it with his shield. Hanna hits one of its glowing eyes, likely it's weak point considering there was nothing else but bone, with her highest damage one hit claw skill to push it back, as her claw tends to do more damage than her Falcata at this point, though usually tried to hide it.

The shriek it gives as its forced back a fair distance proves her assumption on its weak points correct, "If we all do it together, we can take it on. We can do it!"

Kirito glances at her with a slight smile, nodding lightly, "Yea…." The Skull Reaper lunges for them again, and the three of them burst into action as her mate calls out to the other players, "We'll keep its attention and deal with the scythes! Everyone else, attack from the sides!"

Hanna eyes the Skull Reaper's tail, a bit too similar to the dragon boss that had been in the Catacombs of the Damned oh so long ago for her liking, seeing Agil lead a small group around towards its back, she shouts at them, "Stay away from the back! Attack near the middle!'

The small group halts immediately, and Agil shoots her a worried look, "Why?!"

Hanna shakes her head, "A hunch! This thing's tail… It looks too much like the tail of a sub-dungeon boss Kirito and I fought for my comfort, and that thing could use it's tail for jabbing attacks!"

Agil nods then glances at his group, "You heard the lady! Attack the middle!"

Hanna and Kirito stare at the boss' health bars, which have barely been touched at all. They haven't even been fighting for five minutes and there are already three players dead. She feels despair, terror for the other players, for her friends and her _mate_ , because she's honestly beginning to wonder how they're supposed to pull this off, and she can't force the emotions to disappear, so she pushes the torrent of emotions away to grab onto the just one, her burning determination. If she can't forcibly dispel them, she'll just ignore them. Turning to her mate in determination, she can tell he's not faring any better, but they have a job to do, they can't afford to let these things get to them, "Kirito!"

Kirito's gaze turns from incredulous to a sort of furious fortitude, "Yeah."

Without another word they rush forward, Kirito to help Heathcliff with the scythes, and Hanna to keep its attention or distract it should Heathcliff or Kirito need help. As Agil and his group are joined by others wailing on it, the Skull Reaper starts to shift it's attention away from Heathcliff and Kirito, so Hanna jumps in to do her job. Namely, purposely aggroing it by hitting its weak spot, one of its eyes, then when it focuses on her, jumping behind Kirito and Heathcliff.

That was the plan anyway, but after slamming a skill into its eyes, she's a bit slow in jumping back and a scythe arm cuts straight through her, throwing her back thirty feet.

Kirito blocks its next attack, this one actually meant for him, and looks over his shoulder at her in horror as her health bar begins to drain at an astonishing rate, "Marzanna!"

Hanna ignores both him and the astonished glances from the other players, because almost _no one_ trusts anyone with their _real_ name and her mate had just shouted hers in panic, to yank a Healing Crystal out of her pocket as her gaze shoots up to her health bar. Bringing the Crystal up to be level with her face, she pauses. Her health had stabilized with a measly sixteenth of her bar left. Sighing, she quickly puts the Crystal back into her pocket, tosses her blade to other hand, and yanks a health potion from her other pocket, downing it without hesitation. The vial shatters after the potions use, and her health bar refills over the customary ten seconds.

Standing up, she shifts her sword back to her other hand and darts back to the fight, "You know, it's considered rude to use someone's real name around other people."

Her tone is casual with just a hint of teasing, because she really doesn't mind, can't blame him for the slip up considering the circumstances. Then, she refocuses on the boss, she can't afford to be distracted, not when she's got the most dangerous job by far. Kirito and Heathcliff may have the perilous job of blocking its attacks, but at least they _could_ block, she couldn't, and yet, she was the one with the job to continuously piss it off and let it chase her.

She sighs as she readies her weapon when she realizes it's attention is starting to shift again, "My work is never done, is it?"

* * *

For fifty minutes, Mike, and everyone else for that matter, watch the incredibly dangerous fight through Marzanna's eyes anxiously. Listening through her ears as the grim sound effect of players shattering cut through the air with terrifyingly regular frequency. Then finally, the boss seems to stagger, falling to the ground. Hanna eyes dart up immediately to see that only a tiny sliver of health from its last bar is left.

Heathcliff notices as well, and calls out, "It's staggered! Everyone attack!"

The players all rush the boss and begin to attack it in frenzy, unable to retaliate, the boss seems to glare at them in fury. Then, finally after almost a full minute of the frantic attacking, the boss rears back with one final shriek as the last of its health drains away, then freezes for a second before bursting into millions of blue 's a deafening silence as the usual fanfare and 'Congratulations!' pop up appear. The usual roar of excitement from the front liners at the fact they're one step closer to freedom is noticeably absent after the terrifying fight. Instead people begin to just collapse, flop to the ground, or outright lay down after the mentally and emotionally exhausting fight.

Kirito looks at her unsurely, asking with his eyes if it was really over, if they'd actually managed to scrape a victory together. She gives him a sad reassuring smile, and with a sigh, he flops to the ground, and Hanna quickly seats herself so they're back to back.

From his spot sitting near them, Klein grimly asks the question on so many of the players minds, but that no one wants to voice, "How many died?"

She hears her mate open his menu, likely to count the dots on the map, but she already knows the answer, so she gives it tiredly, "12." There's a slight pause, and she can all but feel the questioning looks drilling into her, but she doesn't lift her gaze from the ground, "I was counting the sound effects. Nine over the course of 50 minutes, plus the three at the start."

Agil gasps lightly, "No way…"

In the deathly silence that had reigned since the boss had died, everyone hears her words, and there's a sudden tense disbelief in the air.

Klein's voice is an incredulous whisper, "We still have twenty five floors left…"

Agil is equally quiet, "Will we really be able to reach the top?"

Murmuring breaks out, and Klein punches the ground, "12 people…. God, I don't think we've had casualties like that since…"

Hanna nods, "The fiftieth floor boss. And except for the two Army members on the last floor, which you can't really count for _our_ record since they aren't front liners, we haven't lost anyone since the 67th floor." She sighs, "I hate to say it, given that people just _died_ , but…. it could've been a lot worse."

She can all but _feel_ Klein's incredulous anger, " _Worse?! 12 people just_ _ **died!**_ _You-_ "

Kirito cuts across him harshly, " _ **Klein!**_ " There's a brief pause, then Kirito sighs, "She's right. With how strong that boss was, if Heathcliff, Hanna, and myself weren't so over leveled compared to the rest of you, if we hadn't been able to keep it occupied-"

" _ **I know that!**_ " There's a brief pause, and Hanna finally lifts her gaze to look over her shoulder at them. Klein and Kirito are glaring at each other, but then Klein sees her. She honestly doesn't know what he sees in her eyes or face, but whatever it is, it causes him to slump in defeat and look away before sighing, "... Sorry. It just… Seems wrong to say something like that, when…."

Hanna returns her gaze to the ground, "I know…. But it's the truth."

There's a heavy silence following that. Then, black begins to close in. Mike stumbles out of the memory. In the time since that he was otherwise occupied, the tornado had disappeared, leaving a mess of paper in its wake. Electricity, now blue, reddish black, and a green similar to the shade of their eyes, still violently ran across the floor between the scraps of paper representing the memories he'd just left, but things had calmed down considerably. Likely because the fight had still been in progress when he arrived, but had finished during the time they'd been viewing the memories.

Kikuoka's confused voice surrounds him, "What happened? The memories-"

Mike eyes the electricity in worry, not for being shocked but for his sister as he cuts Kikuoka off, "Are back to being automatically 'filed', as it were, now that my sister has calmed down some. She'll have to come in and manually sort this," He gestures to the mess on the floor, "but everything after that didn't appear her in the storm because they were placed wherever my sister's mind automatically thought that should. Besides, you learned what we came here for. You don't need to see anything more."

Kikuoka sighs, but before anyone can say anything, another tornado appears from nowhere as more scraps of paper begin to pop into existence inside it, and Mike is violently thrown away from it.

He hears a chair clatter to the ground before his dad's alarmed voice rings out, "What the hell?! I thought the fight was over! What-"

Mike climbs to his feet, shielding his face as best he can while still looking at the monstrosity before him, "I don't know! But I can already tell you Marzanna isn't going to let me see! She isn't even letting me _near_ it, considering the way I was thrown back!"

Kikuoka's voice is tense, "Then how are we supposed to know what's going on?'

Mike doesn't say anything for a minute or so, "We don't. We'll have to wait to until whatever's going on is over and talk to Marzanna…"

* * *

Hanna is resting her forearms on her knees, and her head on her arms, trying to distance herself from the oppressive atmosphere. It doesn't work, but she's not ready to get up, so she doesn't know what else to do. She's startled when her mate suddenly gasps in realization. She lifts her head and looks over her shoulder at him to ask about it when he shifts behind her, but before she can say anything Kirito finishes shifting into a crouch, grabs Elucidator from the ground next to him, and takes off as fast as he can, rushing Heathcliff.

She shoots to her feet and whirls around, "Kirito?!"

Kirito doesn't respond as he reaches Heathcliff and lunges at him with a skill. Only to ricochet off of a small purple window. **«Immortal Object»** all but blares it's massage to the astonished front liners. Hanna rushes over to stand behind her mate and provide backup if necessary as incredulous murmuring breaks out amongst the players.

Hanna glances at her mate's back, "What… What's going on?"

Kirito and Heathcliff stare each other down, then Kirito sheaths his sword, but continues to glare at Heathcliff as he begins to slowly speak, "The game ensures that his HP will never fall into the yellow zone. Something has always bothered me, ever since I arrived here." He tilts his head back to look at the ceiling in thought, "It's been bothering me this whole time. 'Where does he hide while he watches us and adjusts the world?' But I'd forgotten a simple piece of psychology. Something any kid knows. There's nothing as boring as watching someone else play an RPG." He finally returns his gaze to Heathcliff, "Isn't that right, Kayaba Akihiko?"

That draws gasps from their enraptured crowd, and Hanna suddenly feels like her chest is in a vice as everything clicks into place, her hand reflexively grabbing her sword's hilt.

Heathcliff, _Kayaba_ , is silent for a few seconds before he tilts his head at Kirito, "Would you be so kind as to tell me how you figured it out?"

Kirito is silent for a moment, then continues, "During our duel at the tournament… In that last instant, you were far too fast…. It must've looked normal enough to the crowd, seeing as no one seemed to notice except Hanna and myself."

Heathcliff's gaze drifts to her at the mention of her name, but Kirito steps in front of her with a fierce protective glare. It only seems to amuse Kayaba though, as he nods with a small smile, "I suspected that's what it was, though I'm surprised your wife noticed. That was an unfortunate mistake. You overpowered me to the point that I needed to engage the system's over-assist mode." The other players gasp as it finally sinks in that Kirito is correct, causing Kayaba glance around at them with an amused smile, before he returns his gaze to Kirito, looking him straight in the eyes, "I originally expected to reach the 90th floor before this would be revealed. Yes, I am Kayaba Akihiko. And if I may add, I am the game's final boss, who would have awaited you on the top floor."

There are noises of disbelief from the rest of the players, but Kirito doesn't seem startled in the slightest, "What a cliché. The strongest player betrays us to become the last boss?"

Kayaba tilts his head, still smiling pleasantly, "Perhaps. It makes an interesting scenario though, doesn't it? I had originally expected this revelation to cause a wave of shock to go throughout Aincrad, but I never expected to be found out only three quarters of the way through. I knew you two were the game's most unpredictable factor, but I never imagined you had such potential."

Kayaba gazes at them thoughtfully, "... I've thought for quite a that it would be you to challenge me at the end, and my belief was all but confirmed when Kirito received the Dual Wield skill. I instructed the system to reward it to the player with the fastest reaction time. It was my intention that such a player would act the part of the Hero that challenges the Demon King. In fact, I'd originally intended to recruit you to the KOB so that you could take over when it was time for me to reveal myself, but your wife is rather tricky to deal with, and your power exceeded my expectations. Well, these unexpected events are part of the fun of an MMORPG."

Hanna steps forward to pull her mate back against her protectively, not liking the 'plans' Kayaba had for her mate. Sure, they'd have helped out in the final boss fight when they got there, of course they would've, but it doesn't sit well with her that Kayaba had been _planning_ to engage her mate in a fight to the death.

There's a brief silence before one of the KOB leaders stands up shakily with a furious expression, clearly fed up of the calm conversation, "Our loyalty… Our hope…. How dare you… How dare you? How dare you?!"

He brings his two handed sword above his head launches himself at Kayaba with a jump. Hanna can't help but think he's an idiot though, given that Kirito had _already_ attempted to attack Kayaba, and they'd all seen how _**that**_ worked out. It was even dumber when you took into account that Kayaba could likely just kill them with a simple system command. There was no time to stop him however, and they could only watch as he tried to attack Kayaba. Kayaba was _much_ faster though, opening and manipulating a window in seconds, the player drops his weapon before falling to the ground roughly, a paralysis icon appearing above him at the end of his health bar. Hanna doesn't feel an ounce of pity for the man, despite now being stuck at the feet of the man who led them around and had played them all for fools for two years. As far as Hanna is concerned, the idiot is lucky Kayaba didn't just kill him.

Kirito's voice is a breathy whisper, "Paralysis?"

But Kayaba isn't done, clicking at his menu rapidly, causing paralysis icons to appear over player after player. It isn't long before Hanna herself suddenly feels her body go slack, her grip on her mate slipping as she falls, "Kirito!"

He catches her instinctively, the only player except Kayaba left unparalyzed, and eases her to the ground but doesn't let her go as he glares at Kayaba furiously, "What are you going to do? Kill us all and cover it up?"

Kayaba shakes his head with a faint smile. "Of course not. I wouldn't do anything so unfair. Well, then…" His gaze drifts over the players thoughtfully, "I shall await you in the top floor, within the Ruby Palace. I've put a lot of time into developing the Knights of the Blood and the other front line players, so it's a shame I have to leave them partway. However, I'm sure that with your power, you'll reach me eventually. But first…" He turns back to Kirito with a smile, then plants his shield into the ground, "Kirito, I must reward you for deducing my identity. I shall give you a chance."

Kirito narrows his eyes at him in suspicion, "A chance?"

Kayaba nods, "The chance to fight me one-on-one. Naturally, I'll deactivate my immortal status. Defeat me, and you beat the game. Do so, and all the players will be automatically logged out. How about it?"

Kirito gasps lightly at the prospect, but Hanna glares at him, "Don't you dare! You heard what he said earlier, he had to use the system assist because you overpowered him! He's just trying to get rid of you!"

But for once, her mate doesn't seem to hear her, focusing entirely on Kayaba. His breathing turns harsh as he bows his head and grits his teeth, "Don't insult me." Kayaba raises an eyebrow, clearly wondering what her mate is mumbling about, but Kirito shakes whatever thoughts had been running through his mind of, before meeting Kayaba's gaze with a steely glare, "That's fine. We'll finish this now."

Hanna glares at her mate, "Kazuto!"

That gets his attention, but he simply smiles at her, "I'm sorry. But I can't run away here."

She shakes her head, "And what am I supposed to do if you die, huh?"

Kazuto just continues to smile at her, "I won't. I'm going to win "

"But-"

Kazuto shakes his head this time, "But nothing…. When Kuradeel nearly killed me, you cried, but… We wouldn't have been in that situation if it wasn't for _him_. And that's all the motivation I need. Besides, there's Silica, and Lizbeth, and everyone else to take into consideration as well. There's my sister that I need to get back to, to apologize to. I _will_ win, and we'll go home. I promise."

Hanna stares at him for another moment, then nods lightly, "Fine… I'll believe in you Kazuto. Like I have since the day this death game started."

Kazuto gently places her on the ground, then slowly stands up, draws his swords and starts to make his way over to Kayaba. Apparently she wasn't the only one adverse to his decision though, as Agil shouts, "Kirito, don't!"

Klein also calls out in protest, "Kirito!"

Kazuto stops at the usual distance to stand at the beginning of a duel before speaking, "Agil… Thanks for helping to support the swordsman class." He turns to smile at him, "I know you spent nearly all the money you made helping the players during the middle zones to level." Hanna doesn't like this, it's beginning to sound a lot like a goodbye, but her mate continues as his gaze shifts a few feet, "Klein… I really am sorry," He looks away shamefully, "for leaving you behind that day."

Despite the anger in his tone, Klein's voice sounds as though he's crying, "D-Damn it, Kirito! Don't apologize… Don't you dare apologize to me now! I won't forgive you… I won't forgive you until you buy me a meal on the other side!"

Hanna's lips twitch slightly, that of course, was Klein's emotional way of telling Kazuto not to die. Something her mate seems to realize as his gaze returns to their friend and smiles lightly, "Got it." He lifts his right hand and without letting go of Elucidator, gives Klein a thumbs up, "See you on the other side."

His gaze finally returns to her, and she gives him a fiercely intense look, conveying how furious she'll be if he dies without words. He smiles at her in a loving manner, then his expression becomes serious as he turns back to Kayaba, who seemed content to patiently wait as Kazuto made what could be his goodbyes, "I'm sorry, but I have a request."

Kayaba tilts his head in question, "What is it?"

Kazuto's grip on his swords tighten, "I don't plan on losing. But if I die here, I want you to make sure that Hanna can't kill herself, just for a little while."

Hanna… couldn't say it wasn't an accurate assumption. Kazuto was her mate. If he died…. She wasn't entirely sure she could resist the usual response soulmates had of committing suicide. And even if she did, she'd simply go insane like uncle Vergil had. Which is to say homicidally 'you should be in a straight jacket' crazy.

Kazuto request seems to surprise Kayaba, but he nods in agreement, "Very well."

She _doesn't want him to_ _ **die**_ , but if he does, she'd rather die than go crazy like Vergil had, especially here where her family couldn't pull her back like grandparents had Vergil, "Kazuto, no! You can't… You can't do that!"

However, her mate ignores her, readying his blades as Kayaba manipulates his menu, setting his health to match Kazuto's, then clicks another button, which causes a notification, similar to the one that declares things immortal appear, though it's red and says, «Changed into Mortal Object». Then he closes his menu and slowly draws his sword.

They stare each other down for a moment, then Kazuto rushes Kayaba, engaging him in a deadly dance, without using skills, likely because Kayaba would undoubtedly know them all, and be able to defend against them with ease.

Their battle rages on with insane speed considering they're both strength types, but then Kayaba manages to nick Kazuto on the cheek, causing him to instinctively use the highest level Dual Wield skill, «The Eclipse».. From his expression, Kazuto seems to understand that he'd made a colossal mistake almost instantly, but it's impossible to stop a skill once you've started. Seeing the dangerous situation her mate has gotten himself in, Hanna immediately begins to struggle under the effects of the paralysis, forcing herself to her hands and knees and crawling forward as quickly as age can. As expected though, Kayaba knew every move to the attack, blocking effortlessly until, with the final stab, Dark Repulsers tip snaps off.

As Kazuto freezes under the skills cooldown, Kayaba raises his sword above his head, "Farewell, Kirito."

As Kayaba's sword begins to glow with his skill, Hanna desperately forces herself to her feet and stumbles forward as fast as she can without falling back down, _'Almost there! Please!'_

Calling up every ounce of her magic, demonic, and angelic, hoping against all hope it can help like it did with Kuradeel, she manages to throw herself in between her mate and the skill just in time as Shuraba once again manifests in her hand. Given that Shuraba doesn't exist to the system, she doesn't bother trying to block with it, instead stabbing Kayaba just as his skill tears through her. However… To her, and everyone else's shock, it's not the red particles of an attack that spew from the wound, but a gushing stream of _blood_.

Kayaba falls to a knee, staring and clutching at Shuraba in shock, gasping out, "It- hurts!"

Hanna reaches across her chest to grab her shoulder, pressing her arm against the still bleeding wound as best she can, "You're telling me…"

Kayaba looks up at her, "How…"

She bares her teeth in a mockery of a smile, "Call it a _Unique Skill_."

Then she stumbles back, and Kazuto's weapons drop with loud 'CLANG's as he catches her, then eases her down to a kneeling position with panicked desperation, " _ **Marzanna!**_ "

She shifts her gaze to him, panting due to the pain, which while it was _nothing_ compared to the pain of some of the injuries she'd gotten as a Demon Hunter, however after two years without experiencing _any_ physical pain whatsoever it felt monstrously bad, "Don't… you know it's… rude to call someone… by their actual name… in front of others?" Then her gaze shifts up to her health bar, "Besides…. It seems... all that nighttime… labyrinth grinding…. paid off…. I still…. have a few… hit points left."

Kazuto breaths out a shaky sigh of relief, then turns his furious gaze to Kayaba, who had been slowly, _painfully_ , removing Shuraba, but now stumbles to his feet as he drops the weapon. Before it can hit the ground, it disappears without a trace.

Kazuto lets go of her, never once removing his _ **furious**_ gaze from Kayaba as he all but growls, "Sorry Marzanna. I'll be right back."

Without further ado, he lunges at Kayaba, chaining a seemingly endless amount of Martial Art and One Handed sword skills together. Kayaba seems to have slowed down a bit, likely due to echoes of phantom pain, and only manages to last a minute under the bombardment before a punch staggers him, leaving him wide open for his head to get cleaved off

The moment Kayaba bursts into particles, Kazuto whirls around and rushes back to her side. He immediately drops to his knees in front of her, gently grabbing onto her shoulders as he gazes at her in worry. She simply smiles at him reassuringly, then leans forwards to press her forehead into his chest.

However, a moment later, the familiar feeling of teleporting washes over them. After the light dies down, they find themselves on a glass platform overlooking Aincrad, which was breaking apart before their eyes.

Kazuto's breath hitched at the sight, "W-What's going on? The other players-"

A voice cut him off, "Are perfectly fine. In fact, the remaining 6,147 players have already been logged out. It's just us here now."

Turning, they find none other than Kayaba Akihiko himself, looking as he does in real life rather than like Heathcliff, watching the crumbling world with certain sadness that Hanna could understand to an extent. Even though she missed the real world and her family, that place that was falling apart had been her's and Kazuto's _home_ for nearly two years.

Kazuto breaths a sigh of relief, "Then… they're all safe.. What's happening to Aincrad? For that matter, why are we still here."

Kayaba doesn't look away from the collapsing structure, "The SAO mainframe, within the fifth-level basement at my corporate headquarters, is deleting all data on its storage devices. In ten minutes or so, this entire world will vanish, though this platform will be the last to go." He finally looks at them, or more actually, Hanna, "Which is why I brought you here. I have… questions."

The pointed look he gives to the arm she was still clutching to her chest, tells her exactly what those _questions_ are. She sighs, "Would you believe me if I said it was magic?"

Kayaba hesitates, "Ordinarily, no, but…. You somehow received a wound that _bleeds_ in a game without blood programmed in, and stabbed me with a ghostly sword that caused actual _**pain**_ despite the pain absorption system being turned on to maximum. So, I… Have an open mind."

Hanna's lips twitch slightly as she returns her gaze to Aincrad, "Good, because it's the truth… The world, the real world that is, is…. much larger than you know. Dragons, mermaids, unicorns, phoenixes, vampires, werewolves…. Magic. It's all real in one form or another."

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see she has Kazuto's full attention, and from the other side she sees Kayaba turn to her fully, "I…. may have a more open mind, but I find that difficult to believe. Wouldn't it be common knowledge?"

Hanna nods, "It is…. For those part of that world in some way or another. Ever heard of the Witch Trials? Unless you're phoenix or dabble in the foulest of black arts, any sort of magical is mortal. Sure, some of them have longer life spans than non-magical people, hell the magic witches and wizards have slows the aging process after they reach their prime by about half making it about as unheard of for them to live to 200 as it is for someone without magic to live to 100, but they're still mortal, and their magic doesn't come from hell or anything of the sort. It's something we're born with, just as you were born with brown eyes. Furthermore, most of those poor girls back then weren't even magicals, but nevertheless, it sent a very clear message to us magicals. That being that while there'd _always_ been people who thought we were unnatural, they were now becoming the majority, and thus, the world was no longer _safe_ for our kind to live in the open."

Hanna sighs, "We already had people who created international laws at that point, so it wasn't long before they passed one because of that shift. The Statute of Secrecy. According to it, no non-magicals who are not either related to a magical or in a high government position are allowed to know of our existence. So, things that were more difficult to hide, such as dragons and giants were gathered up and forced to live away from people, places they won't ever be found by those without magic, others, such as vampires and werewolves, were forced under strict regulations. Vampires may need blood to survive, and werewolves may be literally unable to stop themselves from changing, but feeding on or changing near regular people is a crime punishable by death. Our society as a whole hid itself away, allowing the once common knowledge of its existence to fade into myth. No longer anything more than fairy tales meant to induce wonder… or terror. Within time, we began to break away further and further, and it wasn't long before each country had its own magical government, still answering to their non-magical counterparts to an extent, but almost entirely separate."

Kayaba huffs, "I'm beginning to find your explanation more and more unbelievable." Wordlessly, Hanna releases her shoulder and holds her hand in front of her, palm up, very _clearly_ covered in her blood. There a brief pause from Kayaba, "... Touché… But, if this is supposed to be some sort of secret, why are you telling me?"

Hanna lowers her head, "You may be here, and you may have been the one asking questions, but I'm not explaining for your benefit."

Kazuto jolts in shock, then grabs her hand, the one not converted in blood, and gives it a light squeeze. Kayaba stares at them in contemplation for a moment, then nods, "I see…. However…. If you have magic, something that can apparently defy the laws of this world to an extent, than why…"

Hanna finally looks at him, staring him down blankly, "... There are enchantments and runes that one can place on technology to shield it, but without those, magic and technology…. Don't mix all that well. Specifically, magic tends to _fry_ electronics when in proximity, either from casting or being a place steeped in magic. You'll have to forgive me, but without a **damn good** reason, I didn't _particularly_ feel up to rolling the dice and using magic while your murder machine is stuck to my fucking _face_."

Kayaba tilts his head, "Ah… Yes, I can see the issue there." His brow furrows, before his eyes widen, "But then… Even if you had survived that blow, there was still a chance... " She simply nods, and Kazuto's grip on her hand becomes so strong it would be crushing to a normal person in the real world. Kayaba stares at her blankly, "Why? Why would you…"

She tilts her head at him thoughtfully, "Have you ever been in love Kayaba?"

His answer is immediate and blunt, "No."

She smiles at him sadly, "Then you couldn't _**possibly**_ even _**hope**_ to understand."

Kayaba nods slowly, then his gaze drifts to her bloody hand, which is now simply dangling at her side, "I know you said it was magic, but I still don't understand… And the sword…."

Hanna glances down at her limb, watching the blood drip down, "Ah, well, the sword belongs to me in real life. Shuraba, the sword, is bound by and was created with my magic. I was just trying to summon it here because I found out with Kuradeel that it causes actual pain, despite not being able to affect hit points…. As for the wound…. I honestly don't know, but my best guess? I suppose…. It's _possible_ that my magic acted as a…. bridge, of sorts. Linking my virtual body and real body… So, when you struck me…. My magic transferred that… 'data', as it were, to my real body. A bridge goes both ways though… So while the injury was transferred to my real body… The blood, my _actual_ blood mind you, was transferred here. Given that they probably put all the magicals in the game in the same hospital, and likely brought in a Healer with a non-magical medical degrees, I've probably already been healed in the real world." By which she meant her Nephilim healing had likely taken care of it immediately, "And the connection between my Avatar and body was likely severed as soon as I stopped using my magic, but… Aincrad doesn't even… 'see' the blood or wound. They doesn't exist to the system. Which is why they aren't disappearing."

There's a beat of silence as her listeners absorb all of that, then Hanna sighs again, "I probably freaked out the healers, and possibly my family if they're there when a gash spontaneously appeared on my real body."

Kazuto huffs, "Can't blame them. You freaked _me_ out when you started _bleeding_ …" Then he sighs, looking past her to Kayaba, "There's something I've been wanting to know since this all started two years ago, and I'm not the only one…. Why? Why did you do it?"

Kayaba's gaze returns to Aincrad, "I suppose that's fair. Your wife answered my questions after all... Why, huh? To be honest… I forgot a long time ago…" He looks to the sky, as though searching for answers, "I wonder why… When I began developing the full-dive environment system… No, long before that, I dreamed of nothing but creating that castle, a world that surpassed all our laws and all our reactions…. And now I have seen someone who surpasses even my own world's laws… The world… truly is much larger than I knew… How old must I have been, when I was obsessed with the fantasy of a steel castle that floated in the sky? I wanted to leave the ground, to fly to that castle. For long, long time, that was my only desire… You know, Kirito, Hanna, I still believe that in some other world, that castle truly exists."

There was a beat of silence, then Kazuto nods lightly, "Yeah, I hope it does."

Hanna smiles lightly as she turns back to watch Aincrad finish crumbling, "Well…. It's certainly possible. With the right wards for environment control and flight…. It could even be done in the real world. _Our_ real world."

Kayaba smiles at her lightly, then seems to remember something, "I forgot to say this. Congratulations on winning the game, Kirito, Hanna. Now then, I must be going."

He turns and starts to walk away, but Hanna calls out to him, "Wait!" He pauses and tilts his head, so she continues, "What about us? You said everyone else was already logged out, but…"

He nods, "Don't worry. You can log out at any time, and if you're still here when Aincrad finishes deleting, it'll automatically happen." He glances over his shoulder at them, "I simply figured you would be the only players to truly appreciate the sorrow of Aincrad's destruction. You two…. you're the only other people who truly called it _**home**_ for the past two years."

Hanna nods. So without further ado, he turns back around, walking a few more steps before he seems to turn into smoke and disappear. There's a few moments of silence, in which they move over and sit on the ledge of the platform, then Kazuto takes a breath, "So… Magic? Is it really…"

He seems hesitant to finish the sentence, likely not wanting to sound foolish, so she turns to him with a smile, "Yea... " She looks down at Aincrad again, "I'm…. sorry I never told you… I just…. didn't know how to explain.. Especially since I had no way to prove it… But, even if you still don't quite believe me despite what happened, I _can_ prove it on the other side. _There_ I'll be able to use my magic _freely_ , for the first time in two years. I'd understand if you're mad though…"

In her peripheral, she sees Kazuto shake his head slowly, "No… I believe you. I mean, it's crazy, to think all that's _**real**_ , but… I believe you. I'm not mad either… Without what just happened… It… would've been difficult to believe…"

She smiles lightly at him, "In other words, you would've thought I was lying or crazy, but you don't want to put it that way because you love me."

His sheepish smile speaks for itself. Then he looks away with a sad expression, "So… Is this… Goodbye? I… I don't want…"

Hanna smiles lightly at him, "Stupid. Are you forgetting what I said after we helped Silica? This, _**us**_ , it's real to me. Both here and in the real world. We'll definitely meet up on the other side."

Kazuto looks down, "But… What if we can't find each other…"

Hanna bites her lip unsurely, then sighs as she looks away, "There's… something else I haven't told you, that might make you mad… I…. Through magic…. I've been in contact with the real world since January of last year… There was a government official who wanted to know what was going on in SAO by the name of Kikuoka. In return for taking the risk of the magic frying my NerveGear, and therefore possibly my brain, and for giving him information, the device he used to get updates would remain available to my family, to talk to me when I was asleep here. It's… too complicated to explain with so little time, but there's something happening to your body. They had to transfer you to be as close to me as possible without actually putting us in the same room… So, from my understanding… You're in the room right next to mine in the hospital…."

Kazuto stares at her for a moment in shock, then smiles lightly and tucks some of her bangs behind her ear before cupping her cheek, "I'm not mad. You couldn't have explained that without explaining magic, and we've already gone over that…. I'm glad though. This'll make it easy to get to each other once we're back in the real world."

She smiles at him, then closes her eyes and leans into his hand. A moment later she feels lips press against her own, and happily returns the kiss. Less than a minute later a bright white light pierces through her eyelids, and all sensation disappears.


	28. Pizza and Dementors Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has occurred to me before that I tend to forget the san, kun, and chans from the dialog, and I keep thinking to myself that I need to fix that, so I figured the episode where they return to the real world was a good place to and start doing that. Sorry if I forget here and there, it's almost guarant

November 7th, 2024

Mike had left his sister's mind while they waited for whatever was happening to end, so he, and everyone else for that matter, was astonished when a gash suddenly rips itself into Marzanna's chest, though strangely, the blood from the wound disappears immediately. His mother shoots to her feet and hurries over, and Mike stands as well, but the gash is already healed by her Nephilim abilities before he even rises to his feet, nevertheless he and his mother share a terrified look.

There's a few minutes of silence as they all try to figure out what _**the fuck is going on**_ , but then there's a shout from the corridor. Less than a minute later the healer who was brought in to take care of Marzanna and the other magicals in the game bursts into the room.

He's panting and out of breath, but manages to gasp out, "Kikuoka-san! The… The players!... They're waking up!"

Kikuoka shoots to his feet, grabbing his cell phone and immediately begins to make what would likely be a series of calls as he hurries out of the room with the doctor. Marzanna however, remains asleep. As the minutes tick by with them tensely waiting for Marzanna to _**finally**_ open her eyes, they hear more shouting from outside.

Finally, about fifteen minutes later, the door slowly slides open again. None of them turn to look, expecting it to just be Kikuoka, but the harsh panting and the voice that croaks from the doorway immediately dispels that idea, "Ma… Marzanna…"

Mike isn't the only one who turns quickly at the voice, neither is he the only one who recognizes the young man leaning on the door frame despite how gaunt his face is or how long his hair has grown. Although it's not exactly his fault his body was in a coma for two years while he was fighting for his life. Strangely, he's clutching his NerveGear in one hand in a weirdly protective manner.

Shaking the shock off, his mother hurries over, "Kazuto? Sweetie, you shouldn't out of bed, you just woke up from a coma for Merlin's sake!" She glances at Mike, and getting the hint, he moves out of the way to allow her to gently help him over to Mike's chair, "Honestly sweetheart, what were you _thinking_?"

Kazuto glances at her with a furrowed brow as he slumps into the chair, placing his NerveGear on his lap delicately, then turns back to Marzanna, "Is she…"

Lily sighs in exasperation, "She's fine sweetie. Don't know why she hasn't woken up yet, but…"

Despite the silently asked question clear in her words and tone, there's a touch of respect in her voice. Not that Mike can't understand it himself. Merlin's balls, the guy was human and had his muscles atrophied by two years in a coma, but he _**still**_ forced his body to get up so he could check on Marzanna. Mike couldn't _not_ respect his clear dedication to his mate, to Mike's _sister_ , even if it was entirely understandable, considering they were soulmates.

Kazuto forces his body to move again, reaching out to take Marzanna's hand, speaking in his rough disused voice, "I don't know… She should've woken up when I did… The only reason we were late was because Kayaba wanted to talk to us…"

His mother nods lightly, but she's giving Kazuto a worried look, "I see… Do you want some water sweetie? I realize part of the reason your voice is like that is just disuse, but I could go ask the nurses for a cup if you'd like."

He gives her a slight smile in response, "Yes, please. That would be nice."

She nods lightly, then leaves. It's not long before she returns with a styrofoam cup, with Kikuoka following her. Kazuto carefully accepts the cup with unsteady hands, but smiles gratefully before sipping at it with equal care.

Kikuoka clears his throat lightly, "You're Kirigaya Kazuto, correct? My name is Kikuoka Seijirou, I'm in charge of the SAO taskforce. I-"

Kazuto doesn't look away from Marzanna for a second as he bluntly interrupts the annoying man, "I know who you are. Hanna- Marzanna. She told me about you. From what little I know of you, you'd only be here if you wanted something. So, what do you want?"

Kikuoka coughs lightly into his hand, likely not used to being interrupted, "Then she told you about magic…."

Kazuto stares him down, "An explanation is definitely necessary when you get stabbed and start _bleeding_ in a game that _doesn't_ _have blood programmed in_."

Kikuoka coughs awkwardly again, "Yes, well… Ah, I suppose you have a right to know, given that your… Well! Anyway! Yes, part of my job was to get as clear picture as possible on what was going on in SAO. Which is why I was in contact with Marzanna, and-"

Kazuto's gaze still doesn't waver as he growls in frustration and anger, "Kikuoka. Let me be _blunt_. I don't like you. You put Marzanna's life at risk to find out information that I'm sure was of absolutely _no use_ , considering you couldn't actually change anything going on in Aincrad. If fact, despite never having met you before, I am very close to _hating_ you. So get to the _fucking point_ , or leave me the _fuck alone_."

There's a slight pause, then Kikuoka mumbles to himself, "I was told you were a polite, _cooperative_ person…"

Kazuto turns to him with a glare, "I may have been in a coma, but my hearing is _just fine_. Blame it on Hanna if you want though. She's a terrible influence when it comes to how one acts around those they don't like." Then he huffs out a breath, "However, since you seem to be in no hurry to get to the god damned _**point**_. Allow me to take a _guess_. _You_ want to know what happened at the end, how we got out sooner than we should've, and possibly why Hanna and myself were ten minutes late being logged out compared to everyone else. Since Hanna- _Marzanna_ , your previous source of information is currently…. unavailable, you want answers from _me_? That about sum it up?"

Kikuoka clears his throat, "Well… Yes. I suppose that's the general gist."

Kazuto nods firmly, "I figured as much." Then he straightens himself to his full height, " _However_ , if there's one thing I've learned from mine and Hanna's friend Argo, it's that you don't give information away for free, especially when the other person can do something for you in return." Kikuoka grows unsure at that, and Kazuto sighs, "Luckily for _you_. What I want is exceedingly simple if you really are in charge of this 'SAO taskforce'. But first, a question of my own. What's going to happen to the NerveGears?"

As he says the last part, he clutches his tightly in a protective manner again. Kikuoka eyes him, then clears his throat, "Well… The government is going to collect them all and destroy them of course."

Kazuto nods, "I figured as much. In that case, my terms for answering all of your questions to the best of my ability are, as I said, exceedingly simple. One, I want to get in contact with mine and Marzanna's friends from SAO, so I am going to give you their screen names, and _you_ are going to get me their information. Their real names, what hospitals they're in, the room numbers, and since since I'm sure they're probably in rooms with landlines like Marzanna and myself were, the phone numbers to their rooms so I can call them and make sure their ok. And two, _you_ are going to get me permission to keep my NerveGear. There's something _very_ important to Hanna and I saved onto it, and I literally wouldn't let you pry it from my cold dead fingers until I've safely transferred it off of it, but I figure it's easier to simply get permission to keep it."

Kikuoka tilts his head, "That's it?"

Kazuto nods lightly to a pen and little notebook on the bedside table, he gives Mike a thankful smile as he accepts it, then starts writing on a fresh as he continues, "Yes. As I said. It should be rather simple for you. That said, I don't trust you, so I'm not answering a single question about SAO until you have what I asked for. Seeing as my family will probably receive the news I'm awake and come to see me soon, and that it shouldn't take you that long to get what I asked for, I'll wait here while for Marzanna to wake up while you're seeing to that, and when you've got it, we'll go back to my room to talk while I wait for my family to show up." He tears the page out and extends it to Kikuoka, "Here. Our friend's screen names. Once you've got what I asked for, we'll talk."

Kikuoka sighs, but accepts the paper without a word, and pulls his phone out to make a call as he leaves the room. Mike can't help but share a slight grin with his mother, iffy though he may be at the guy who could break his little sister's heart, he really couldn't help but respect the guy.

* * *

Kazuto had slumped back into the chair while he waited for either Marzanna to wake or Kikuoka to come back, whichever came first. Honestly, he _really_ didn't want to leave Marzanna's side until she woke up and he could see for himself that she was alright, but Marzanna would probably smack him if she knew he was wasting time that could be used to get important things sorted out, like getting back in touch with their friends or ensuring Yui's safety, when he _knew_ she'd be ok. Besides, he's waited _so long_ to put things right with his family, and while he was torn between seeing them and staying with Marzanna… Well, again, she'd probably smack him, call him an idiot with that little grin of hers, then shake her head at him. Not to mention, his body _hurt_ from all the activity after not moving in two years.

It isn't long before Kikuoka comes back with a scowling nurse pushing an empty wheelchair. He glares at the offending thing, knowing it's for him. It was so… _humiliating_ , to go from _The Black Swordsman_ to someone whose body hurts after walking less than 15 meters, and he was _not_ going to be humiliated further with that _thing_.

He glares lightly at the nurse, "I'm _not_ using that."

The woman glares right back, " _Yes. You are_. Honestly, what were you _thinking_? Do you have _any_ idea what you did when you just got up and left your room?! We thought you were _dying_ because your heart rate monitor _flatlined!_ Only to find an _empty room!_ We've been looking _all over_ for you! Only to find you'd _wandered off_ when Kikuoka-san came to tell us that we aren't allowed to confiscate that _**infernal device**_ because you have special permission to keep it! Why you would want to _**do**_ such a thing…"

She descends into displeased grumbling and Kazuto can't help but roll his eyes, "Well, you didn't look very well then, did you? I've been here this whole time. I needed to check on Marzanna."

The woman huffs, "You don't need to be checking on _anyone_. You're the one who needs to be checked! You've been in a coma for _**two years**_ , you shouldn't have been able to get up, but just because you _could_ doesn't mean you _should've_. Now get in the damn wheelchair."

Kazuto's glare intensifies, " _Hell no_. It's 10 meters at _most_. I can _walk_ just _fine_."

The woman takes a sharp breath in, "You _prideful little_ -"

Kikuoka clears his throat loudly, looking like he's beginning to believe he'd made a mistake bringing the woman, then extends the piece of paper he'd written their friend's names on. Looking it over carefully, he checks it over to make sure Kikuoka had put their info in the spaces he'd left between their names. He's a bit startled to realize that Asuna had used her real name, but then he realizes it makes sense, seeing as he was pretty sure SAO was her first video game.

Satisfied that Kikuoka had upheld his end of the bargain, he nods before tilting his head, "Klein and Asuna are in the same hospital? I suppose it makes sense to group all the players together as much as possible, but…"

Kikuoka nods, "Exactly. Actually, that's this very hospital. Asuna is one floor up, and your other friend is two down."

Kazuto's gaze snaps to him, he instantly regrets it, as his neck does _not_ appreciate the sudden movement, but he refuses to let the flare of pain show in front of that damned nurse, "Really?"

The nurse in question purses her lips, "Oh don't you even _think_ about it! You are going to get in this damn wheelchair, go back to your room, and _stay there_ until you've recovered enough for the doctors to say you can leave your room!"

Kazuto snorts as he forces his hurting body back up, clutching his NerveGear with one hand, "Of course I'm going back to my room. I need to uphold my end of Kikuoka and my bargain, and my mom has probably already gotten the phone call saying we're all waking up and managed to get off work already. She's likely already on her way to pick up my sister before coming here to see me." He moves straight past the wheelchair, then lightly pushes past the woman when she ties to block his path, "No. I'll visit him _tomorrow_."

The woman storms after him, "You most certainly will _not_!"

Kazuto snorts again, "Listen lady, that guy is one of my best friends, you _can't stop me_."

The nurse takes a deep breath in to argue, then let's it out rather suddenly, " _Fine_ , you can visit your friend, _**if you use the wheelchair**_! I will not have you hurting yourself because of your stubborn pride! And you have to tell someone first!"

Kazuto pauses at the door to his room to give her a dirty look, then sighs. He would never admit it, but he probably _couldn't_ make it all the way to Klein. Not if the way his body protested just going over one room to see Marzanna. A charged feeling, like electricity, but weirdly not like he'd been shocked, courses through his body, and it suddenly feels unbearably _hot_ , and he shudders, but he pushes it away. It's likely just from pushing his body.

He sighs again, " _ **Fine**_. I'll use the damn wheelchair when I go to see Klein..."

The nurse gives him a suspicious look, either not believing he'd give in so easy, or having caught his shudder. Perhaps both. However she lets it go and gets him situated in bed, hooks him back up to his heart monitor and replaces his IV, which he'd carefully pulled out before leaving.

She gives him one last glare, "The doctor will be by at some point to look you over."

With that and a final irritated huff, she leaves. After an awkward pause, Kikuoka clears his throat, "Well then. Let's get started. Let's start with you just telling me what happened after the fight with the Skull Reaper, and when you're done we'll get to any questions I've got."

Ten minutes later Kikuoka hummed lightly in thought as Kazuto finished the rather short tale, "I see… And he really didn't say why he did it?"

Kazuto shakes his head, "Well, I mean, he did sorta answer my question, but… The only answer he gave was that after those long two years, he couldn't remember anymore…"

Kikuoka sighs, "I see… Well then-"

He's cut off by the door being flung open. Kazuto's gaze shifts over to it, half expecting the pushy nurse to be there, only to find his sister staring at him with wide eyes, and their mother behind her. Suguha stares for almost a full minute before her eyes begin to tear up and she dashes inside, all but throwing her arms around his neck, "Onii-chan! You- Your-!"

She cuts off with a sob, and he wraps his arms around her, and smiles at their mom over her head, "I'm home, Sugu, mom."

His mother had been giving him a watery smile, but her eyes widen as she understands what he's trying to tell her, at the silent apology in his eyes for pushing them away. Then get smile widens as tears start streaking down her face, "Welcome back. We missed you so much"

Just as she understood what he _didn't_ say, so did he. They'd missed him for longer than two years, missed him since he was ten and found out he was adopted, it had simply become worse when Aincrad became a death game.

Kikuoka, surprisingly, didn't seem to mind putting their conversion on hold for a bit. Not that Kazuto cared. He'd have put the conversation on pause whether Kikuoka liked it or not.

* * *

Kazuto sighs when Kikuoka finally leaves, over two hours after his family had. It was almost ten pm, so he wasn't expecting any visitors. Therefore, it was understandable that he was rather surprised when someone knocked on his door, and it took him a minute to gather himself, "Come in."

The door opens to admit Marzanna's mother, at least, he was _pretty_ _sure_ she was her mother. They were definitely related anyway. The redhead smiles at him lightly, "Sorry, I realize it's probably been an exhausting day, especially given how long you had to deal with Kikuoka. I just wanted to see how you were doing."

He tilts his head slightly, he honestly doesn't know why she's so concerned about him, nor why she'd acted so familiar with him earlier. It was kinda nice though, to have someone who wasn't strictly family or paid to take care of him worried about him. He supposed Marzanna could've told her about him, during their talks, but...

He pushes the wayward thoughts away, and the sudden spike of pain, "Yea, it's been a long day, that's for sure. I'm fine though. Has Marzanna…"

The way her expression fell spoke for itself, but she shook her head anyway, "No. She's still… She still hasn't woken. She's not the only one from what I understand either…" Then she suddenly shakes her head, smiling again, "It's just a matter of time though. My Marzanna's strong."

Kazuto tilts his head slightly, "On that note, there's something I've been meaning to ask…" She gives him a prompting look, and he tries to think of how to say it without possibly offending her, before finally just deciding to blurt it out, "Are you Marzanna's mother? You guys look a lot alike, but you seem kinda young… And how did you know me earlier? We've never met."

She blinks rapidly for a moment clearly startled by the question, then blushes lightly in embarrassment, "Oh! I totally forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? I'm sorry. Yes, I'm Marzanna's mom, Lily. As for your other question… If she told you of Kikuoka, she must've told you she was talking to us." He nods, so she continues, "Well, she mentioned you quite a lot. Not to mention, not long after you were transferred here, your mom and I ended up having a nice discussion by the vending machines and sorta struck up a friendship. Sometimes she'd end up over in Marzanna's room, and other times I'd end up here in your while we talking, which is how I recognized you."

Kazuto nods lightly, "I see…"

He's unable to stop himself from stiffening as another wave of heat and pain washes over him. He can faintly hear his breathing turn rough, but it sounds quieter than it should be, like there's cotton in his ears or something. He isn't even aware he'd clutched his eyes shut until the back of a hand being pressed against his forehead startles him into opening them.

Lily's face is blurry and it takes him longer than it really should to focus and make out that she's frowning in worry, "... It's worse than I thought I'd be…."

Kazuto's brow furrows in confusion, "I thought it was… I mean, I _was_ …" He'd _thought_ it'd just been side effects from long term use of the NerveGear and being in a coma for so long, but from Lily's words, that didn't seem to be the case, "... What's wrong with me?"

Lily sighs as she sits on the side of his bed, seeming to wonder how to explain, "Well, believe it or not, there's nothing exactly… wrong with you. You're just…. You're not meant to be in this state for so long…"

Kazuto begins to grow frustrated, "What state? What's happening to me?!"

Lily sighs again, "When Marzanna told you about magic… Did she tell you about you being transferred here, or why it was necessary?"

Kazuto frowns, "No… There wasn't time… Besides, I may believe her, but I still find this whole magic thing..."

He's not even sure how to finish the sentence, but Lily seems to understand, and gives him a slightly mischievous grin before flicking her wrist and holding up some sort of… stick that slid from up her sleeve into her hand, "Have you ever heard of the term, Transfiguration? Perhaps in literature or video games?" Kazuto shakes his head, so she continues, "Transfiguration is the branch of magic dedicated to the alteration of the form of an object. I'm not particularly **…** _fond_ of Transfiguration, but it does make a rather… striking point, even tending to prove the existence of magic."

Without further ado, she waves her stick at the chair closest to them, and it promptly turns into a dog. Kazuto gapes at it, " _ **What?!**_ " He immediately blushes in embarrassment at the rather… high pitch his voice was, and clears his throat while giving Lily a slight glare, "That… That didn't happen."

Lily smiles in amusement, "What didn't happen?"

He grins at her, "Knew there was a reason I liked you almost immediately." Then his gaze shifts back to the… dog, "I still don't understand…. I just… That was a _chair_." He glances at the object in her hand, "And that's a _**stick**_. You can't just…"

Lily laughs lightly, "Oh, but I can. It was a chair, and now it's a dog. When I release the spell, it'll be a chair again. And this isn't a _stick_. Well, I mean, technically I suppose it is, but it's not _just_ a _stick_. It's a wand, a magical foci."

Kazuto stares at the dog a moment more, then leans over to touch it. He recoils the moment his hand touches fur, " _Holy shit! That's a_ _ **dog!**_ That's _**really**_ a dog!"

Lily laughs again, then cancels the spell, turning the dog back into a chair, "Well, not really. It's almost impossible to make Transfiguration permanent. They always revert to their real form when the magic runs out or is cancelled." Kazuto nods slowly, and Lily's smile slips away, "Anyway, we've gotten a bit off topic."

Kazuto's gaze snaps away from the chair over to her, then shakes his head lightly to refocus himself, "Right. Whatever it is that's wrong with me."

Lily sighs, "As I said, it's not exactly that something's wrong with you… Kazuto… Have you ever heard the term 'soulmate'?"

Kazuto rolls his eyes, "Yea. The idea that two people are absolutely _made_ for each other that media adores."

Lily chuckles, "Well, that _is_ technically true…. The thing is though, soulmates are a real magical phenomenon. There really _are_ people made for each other. Their minds and souls slot together like two perfect pieces of a puzzle, and whether you're a magical or not, you really will feel drawn to them, knowing on _some_ instinctive level that you're just _meant_ _to be_."

Kazuto stares at her with wide eyes, "Are- Are you serious? That's actually a _thing_?"

Lily nods with a smile, and he can't help but immediately think of Marzanna, his beautiful, _brilliant_ Marzanna that he loved with every fiber of his being. _Oh_ , what he'd give for them to be soulmates.

Lily seems to know where his thoughts went as she gives him a mysterious but warm smile, "You are, you know. Marzanna's soulmate that is." His eyes widen in disbelief, unable to comprehend that maybe, just maybe, he _already_ had what he wanted, and Lily chuckles, then she sighs, "Therein lies the problem though… It's been so long, that there's no record or memory of how soulmates originally became fully bonded couples, but in time, people began using magic to help the process. Normally, it takes ten to fifteen years for a bond to reach the state where all that's left to do is fully bond. And in the old days, that's what people did. They'd have to wait until they were ready, then use a bonding ritual to fully bond. Then a way to speed up the process was discovered, and after that, bonding rituals that allowed the couples to skip over their bond having to be formed before fully completing it. It's the method used today, because honestly, no one wants to wait to be as close as being fully bonded brings them to their mates."

Kazuto nods slowly, still wondering what this has to do with his… symptoms. Lily sighs again before continuing, " _However_ , something… strange happened to you and Marzanna in Aincrad. Your bond has been left to naturally developed for two years, but it should still be nowhere close to done. But it is. It's something we discovered back in February. We aren't _entirely_ sure why, but Marzanna and I have the running theory that since it was basically your minds themselves interacting with each other in SAO, it accelerated the development of your bond. But that's exactly the problem. The body goes through some sort of change when two soulmates bond who are… different from one another. In the case of a magical and a non-magical, the non-magical, well, becomes a magical. If the two are of different species with different life spans, say a vampire and human, then the one with the shorter life span becomes a half blood of the others species. Are you getting what I'm saying?"

Kazuto stares at her, "Yea, but I still don't see…"

Lily runs a hand through her hair, "Well, with soulmates whose bond is allowed to naturally develop, like yours, the body begins to prepare itself for that change when you're ready to bond…"

Kazuto's eyes widen as he finally understands what she's saying, "This…. This is because _my_ body is preparing itself to change, isn't it?"

Lily nods, "Yes, it is…. I'm really sorry I had to be the one to tell you this. It really should've been Marzanna, but…" Kazuto nods his understanding, "Well… Anyway, if you'd like, I know of a potion that would help ease the symptoms, but you might want to truly think it over before you take it."

Kazuto looks at her wearily, "Why? Is it really that bad?"

Lily sighs, "It…. It dulls a person's soulmate bond. It doesn't do anything _permanent_ to it, but… Well, on one hand, leaving your body in this state is not only painful, but being on the brink of change like this for an extended period of time is dangerous for you. It's why you had to be transferred here, to ease the strain on your body by bringing you as physically close to your mate as we could. On the other hand, while the potion will alleviate the symptoms and danger by stabilizing your condition, the way it does it, by dulling your bond, is both mentally and emotionally _**exhausting**_. Even if you were never consciously aware of it before, there's little worse in the world for the mind than to be unable to feel your mates presence there."

Kazuto nods slowly, "I… I don't really want to do that…. But if leaving it unchecked is as dangerous as you say… Well, it doesn't seem like I have much of a choice."

Lily gives him a sad smile, "I'm sorry sweetie... " Then she sighs again, and gets to her feet, heading for the door, "I'll brew the potion and bring some tomorrow. For now, I suggest you get some sleep."

And with that, she slips out of the room, leaving him with a lot to think about.

* * *

November 8th, 2024

Kazuto is already waiting in the stupid wheelchair when his sister and mother arrive. He smiles lightly when he realizes they'd done the favor he'd asked of them, but it soon disappears. It had been a full day since they'd gotten out of Aincrad, and Marzanna still hadn't woken up. She was still entirely unresponsive, and the doctor was to afraid of setting off the damn thing to remove her NerveGear. Not to mention, Lily hadn't been by with the potion, so he still had the whole 'he has to dampen his marvelous and honest to God _magical_ connection to Marzanna or there could be terrible consequences for him' thing hanging over him…

With a frustrated sigh, he allows his mother to push his wheelchair for him, unable to bring himself to argue with her as he had that nurse. They quickly make their way to the elevator and down two floors, quickly reaching Klein's room.

Kazuto knocks on the door, not out of politeness, it was _Klein's_ room, but just in case, as he has no desire to see his friend in _any_ sort of state of undress. Getting a rough, "Come in!" he pushes the door open and wheels himself in quickly. Klein seems to be reading magazine of some sort, and doesn't bother to look up despite how utterly _bored_ he seems, "Whaddya want? I told you you guys, if you try poking and prodding at me _one more time_ -"

Kazuto grins as he cuts his friend off, "Well how **rude**! I come all the way down two floors in my _terrible_ state and I don't even get a proper greeting!"

Klein's gaze had snapped up in shock as soon as he started speaking, but by the end he's grinning widely, "Kirito! Dude, I didn't think I'd ever see you again!"

Kazuto places a hand above his heart with a fake wounded look, " _ **Klein!**_ Do you truly think so little of me? That I can't _hunt_ you down and keep my promise?"

He'd purposely worded it to be able to be taken as a threat, and Klein laughs, "Never!" Then he seems to grow slightly confused, "That said… What promise?"

Kazuto grins and turns to his sister. Getting the hint, she moves forward and holds out what they'd picked up for him, a small pizza and bottle of ginger ale. Kazuto's grin widens at Klein's stunned expression, "We had a deal, yea? You'd forgive me after I bought you a meal in the real world. My mom and sister knew I was planning to come visit a friend today, so I asked them to get my wallet and pick that up with my money, just so you can't say _I_ didn't buy it. You should probably thank them too though, for going to get it for me."

Klein smiles at him slightly, "Oh, come on Kirito! You know I just said that because I thought you were marching off to your death, don't you?"

Kazuto inclines his head in agreement with a smile of his own, "Of course, but I figured since you threw it out there, it would be make for an adequate apology."

Klein huffs a laugh, then opens the box. He immediately freezes and tears up slightly, "Ginger ale _and_ teriyaki mayo pizza? You honestly remembered that? That was _literally_ _two years ago_!"

Kazuto laughs lightly, "Yea. It's a bit late, but I figured you'd like that pizza you were looking forward to so much before we found out the truth about Aincrad…"

Klein turns his head away and gives a suspicious sniff, "I- Yea. It- It's great! I doubt my stomach will be able to handle that much, but it's..." Then he gives up the charade and rubs at his eyes roughly, "Aw man, come on! You made me cry! You made me cry over _pizza_! You're such an _asshole_."

Kazuto laughs again, "Yea I knew you wouldn't be able to eat that much of it, that's why I had them get a small. And well, I may be an asshole, but I also happen to be your best friend, so what's that say about you, huh?"

Klein barks a laugh, "That I have terrible taste in friends!"

Kazuto shakes his head, "Mine's gotta be worse. I mean, _come on_ , _**you**_ , for all that you're one of the bravest, most _loyal_ people I've ever met, also all but drool at every pretty girl you see!"

Klein's finally turns back around, giving him a watery smile, "That means a lot, coming from you, and let me return the sentiment. The brave and loyal thing, not the other part. I don't think it's physically possible for any girl to entice you to so much as _look_ at them like that, given how loyal you are to Hanna." Kazuto's smile drops at that, and Klein frowns, "Err… Is everything ok between you and Hanna?"

Kazuto sighs, "Her real name is Marzanna actually, and kinda… Have-" He takes a deep breath, "Have you heard of the three hundred players?"

Klein nods, "Yea I think everyone has. The the hundred who aren't… Oh. _Oh_. Man, I'm so sorry… Jeez, I can't even _begin_ to _ **imagine**_ what that must be like for you. I'd say 'probably like losing a limb', given you two were utterly attached at the hip, but it's probably even worse than that... "

Kazuto gives a humorless laugh, "I'd prefer losing a limb actually. It'd be a hell of a lot easier to get used to… Probably wouldn't hurt as much either…" He sighs again, "Asuna hasn't woken up either…"

Klein frowns heavily, "Fuck! That's bullshit man! We didn't survive in that place for _two goddamn years_ just for some of us to-" When Kazuto clutches his fists reflexively, Klein quickly changes whenever he was about to say, "to take even longer to wake up…."

Kazuto smiles at him bitterly, "Yea well. There's nothing we can do, is there? I can't… This isn't something I can just fight. It's not something I can just swing a sword at and fix." He gives another humorless laugh, "Even if it was, I wouldn't be able to, given that I can't even _walk_ two floors to come see you, much less handle a weapon…"

Klein huffs, "Yea, I know what you mean. It's so goddamn _frustrating_ being like this. You know one of the nurses actually had the _nerve_ to get onto me for trying to go to the _bathroom_ on my own? _**Apparently**_ , I'm supposed to call them so they can assist me. To go to the bathroom! _I don't need help going to the god damn bathroom!_ "

Kazuto sighs, "I feel ya buddy. I've been _entirely_ self sufficient in SAO for two years, only to wake up and be told I can't even walk to the room next door!"

Klein nods, then gives him a questioning look, "Next door?"

Kazuto gives him another bitter smile, "Wouldn't you know it, Marzanna is roomed right next door to me. She's less than a 15 meter walk, and yet she's never been so far out of my reach..."

Klein leans back, "Well… Shit. I don't even know what to say to that…" Kazuto shrugs, and there's a brief silence, but if there's one thing Klein's learned in the past two years it's how to push past a somber mood. So in a move rather familiar with Kazuto, he shakes his head firmly, then smiles widely, "You wouldn't happen to have heard from anyone else? How are they doing?"

Kazuto smiles lightly, "I haven't, but I managed to make a deal with a government official who wanted info on what went on inside SAO. I answered his questions and in return he gave me the info I needed to find mine and M- Marzanna's friends, like room landline numbers. It's how I knew where to find you actually…. I was gonna call some of the others later, but I wanted to come see you, since we're in the same hospital and I _did_ owe you a meal."

Klein leans forward, "You wouldn't happen to have the numbers memorized, would you? I wanna hear how they're doing too!"

Kazuto gives him a bemused look, "Memorized, no, but I did bring a copy of the list with me to give to you so you could call them. That said, you do realize they're probably just as bored and frustrated as we are, right? I mean, I _could_ use your room phone, but I'm not sure if these hospital phones have a speaker function…"

Kazuto's mom, who had sat down and seemed content to simply be with him while he caught up with Klein, suddenly started searching through her purse, "Oh! That actually reminds me. We had your cell phone disconnected while you were… stuck, seeing as it didn't make much sense to be paying for something that saw absolutely no use, but I went and got it reconnected for you while I was waiting for Suguha to get out of school.". Finally finding his phone, she holds it out to him with a smile, "Here you go. That should make getting back in touch with your friends from that place easier. I've got your charger to, but I'll give it to you when we get back to your room so we don't have to worry about accidentally leaving it here."

Kazuto smiles at her, "Thanks mom. Should be the same number, right?" She nods, and he grins, "Excellent. As long as at least one of us has a permanent number, there shouldn't be a worry of losing contact just because someone gets released from the hospital or something."

Klein shoves at his shoulder lightly, "Come on man! Call already!"

Kazuto rolls his eyes at his friends impatience, quickly dialing Agil's number, seeing as other than his own guild, he was the friend of Kazuto's that Klein knew best. Though he _had_ been thoughtful enough to get the numbers to the members of Klein's guild for him as well, "Yea, yea."

As it rings, he puts it on speaker, and it's not long before Agil's confused voice picks up, "Uh, hello?"

Kazuto grins at hearing another friend's voice, his mood picking up a tiny bit more, bringing the phone up to be about a foot from his face with a grin, "Agil! How's it going man?"

Klein pushes Kazuto's head away, "I'm here too!"

Agil gives a slightly shocked laugh, "Kirito? Klein? Is that really you guys? What am I saying, of course it is. The only person better at tracking people down than Kirito is Argo, which is saying something since that's literally part of her job. Or, it _was_ anyway. " There's a brief pause in which Kirito is rather confident in saying that Agil's shaking his head, then their rather large friend continues, "I'm fine by the way. Great actually, despite how frustrating being in the hospital is. You remember how I mentioned I owned a business in the real world, but I figured I'd probably lost it? I didn't! That amazing wife of mine managed to keep it afloat despite everything going on!"

Klein beams at that, "Really? Dude, I'm so happy for you! That's fantastic! Your wife is awesome!"

Agil laughs, "Don't I know it!" He sighs happily, "So, what about you two? I'm honestly a bit surprised you guys haven't died of sheer _boredom_."

Klein snorts, "Only 24 hours into my recovery and it's already been a close call more than once. I haven't even had any visitors besides Kazuto, seeing as the only people I know well enough to actually visit were my friends who just so happened to be stuck in the game with me, and they're not exactly in any condition to come… Hell, I'm surprised Kazuto managed to get them to let him visit me, and we're apparently in the same hospital." Klein glances at him, "Kazuto seems to be keeping busy though, making deals with government officials to tell them what happened in there in exchange for info on how to find and get a hold of us."

Agil chuckles, "So that's how you did it. Ah, Argo would be proud, what with you not doing it out of the kindness of your heart and a sense of duty. It always irritates her when you do that… So, Kazuto, if you've got everyone's contact info, I'm sure you've already checked up on Hanna. How's she doing? She scared the shit outta me at the end there…"

What little of a good mood he'd managed to get with his friends plummets into non-existence again as his face goes blank. Klein takes one look at him and takes pity, clearing his throat before quietly explaining so Kazuto doesn't have to, "Agil… I'm sure you've heard of those three hundred players that haven't woken up… Hanna, and Asuna for that matter, are among them."

Agil groans in frustration, "Shit, are you kidding me? That's…. That just isn't fair…. After everything we went through….."

Klein sighs, "Yea, tell me about it…"

Agil and Klein continue to talk for a while after that, but Kazuto just can't seem to muster up the will to really participate. They seem to understand though, and they steer clear of conversation that brings Marzanna up. Kazuto is pretty sure that at least some of Klein's usual stupid shenanigans are done on purpose in an attempt to make him feel better, and he appreciates the gesture, but he still finds himself being distant from the conversation. Eventually, after about an hour and a half of conversation and giving Agil phone numbers and the like to call the others if he wants, they say their goodbyes and hang up.

Klein watches him for a minute in worry, then looks away, "So… Do you wanna call someone else, or are you gonna head back to your room?"

Kazuto thinks it over as he stares at the piece of paper full of numbers and names before his eyes fall on one in particular. His own handwriting spelling out Lizbeth, followed by Kikuoka's listing of information, "One more quick call for now… Then I should probably be heading back…"

Klein smiles lightly with a nod, so he quickly dials the number. After a moment a familiar, and rather _irritated_ voice picks up, "Look buddy, you've got the wrong number and I've had a _long_ , _**frustrating**_ day, so why don't you just hang up and-"

Kazuto's lips twitch slightly at that, "So you're rude to customers in Aincrad _and_ friends in the real world. Nice to know."

That's a tiny pause, "Kirito?!" Then a huff, "I was _not_ rude to _customers_ , I was rude to _**you**_ , the asshole that broke the best sword I'd ever forged!"

Kazuto smiles slightly, "Hey! _I_ was just testing it out. It's not _my_ fault it was of inferior quality to what I asked."

There's another small pause, then a little laugh, "That's because _you_ had _way_ too high expectations. Honestly, I've told you before, you can't make something of the quality you were looking for with regular materials, you need the _good shit_ for that…. Then again, opening my big fat mouth and telling you that is what got me dragged off to go and _get_ some of the good shit to make your stupid sword in the first place! Ah well, at least it was worth it. Best damn sword I ever made, that thing certainly wasn't gonna break!"

Even though she can't see him, he looks away from the phone in guilt, "Well… Actually Liz…"

There's a sharp intake of breath from the other end of the phone, before it explodes back out of Lizbeth in the form of incredulous near shouting, " _You broke it?!_ _**How?!**_ "

Klein, somewhat familiar with Liz after they met during the tournament, takes pity on him again and leans forward, "Hey Lizbeth, yea I'm here to, I just wanted to say, you should really cut Kirito some slack. After all, it did break while he was fighting Heathcliff, who turned out to be Kayaba Akihiko by the way, in a duel to the death over the freedom of every player in the game, and Heathcliff's Holy Sword skill did have a rather legendary defence, so…."

There's a heavy pause on the other end, "Oh…." Then her voice turns guilty, "Oh my god, Kirito I'm so sorry… I _made_ you that sword and it _broke_ when you needed it the most! I-"

Kazuto smiles lightly, "It's alright Liz. Actually, I got everyone's contact information, so other than passing that along, I was calling to apologize to _you_. You worked so hard on it and I went and broke it on Kayaba's shield… It was a damn good sword too, almost as good as Elucidator…"

Laughter spills through the phone, "You know, I _would_ be offended that you think a boss drop weapon is better than something I poured my heart and soul into, but… Well, you _**really**_ loved that sword, so you're _totally_ biased." Then she sighs, "Well, I feel bad that it up and broke on you, and _you_ feel bad for breaking it, so why don't we just agree no one needs to apologize and call it square, yea?"

Kazuto chuckles lightly, "Fair enough. Well, I've actually gotta get going. I'm supposed to meet with Kikuoka in a bit. I'll be leaving Klein with a copy of contact into, so I'll just give you his room's number and if you want anyone else's info you can call him." Quickly grabbing a pen off the bedside table he adds his cellphone number under the number to the phone in his room, "He also has my cell phone number for you to call, but I'll probably be busy over the next few days…"

"Whose Ki-" Then she sighs, "Never mind. I probably don't want to know. Yea, ok, that sounds good. I'll talk to you later Kirito."

After giving her Klein's number, he hangs up. Turning his gaze to Klein, he smiles slightly, "Well, I need to be getting back, but it was nice seeing you Klein. Try not to go crazy with boredom or frustration."

Klein laughs lightly, "You too buddy. And listen, I know you're worried about Hanna, but you really don't need to be. That girl is the toughest person I've ever met."

Kazuto sighs, "I know. I just…"

Klein nods solemnly, "I know. She's your girl, of course you're going to worry. I'm just saying. She'll probably wake up any day now!"

Kazuto nods with a slight smile, "That she is." His mom comes over and starts pushing his wheelchair to take him back, so Kazuto just lazily lifts a hand over his shoulder. "See ya later Klein."

* * *

Kazuto holds up the vial full of a deceptively bright pink liquid, "So… This will dampen by connection to Marzanna and ease the strain on my body?

Lily nods solemnly, "Yes. It won't be pleasant, and the potion tastes terrible, like most do, but it'll stabilize you… You'll have to take it once a week, at least until- _unless_ , you and Marzanna bond."

Kazuto lowers the vial and gives her a questioning look, so she shrugs uncomfortably, "It's not common for someone to reject their soulmate, and I doubt you will, even though there's still more that _Marzanna_ needs to be the one to tell you, but I don't want to make you feel like you absolutely must bond with Marzanna… Rejecting her would put an end to your symptoms as quickly as bonding would, so don't think it's necessary for your health either…"

She doesn't seem happy to be entertaining the idea that he might reject Marzanna, and the idea seems utterly _preposterous_ to him, but he respects the fact she wants to make sure he doesn't feel pressured nonetheless. He smiles slightly at her, "I appreciate you explaining that to me, but I honestly can't think of _anything_ that would make me reject Marzanna."

She smiles slightly at that then nods to the vial, "Well either way, you'll have to take that until you two's fluctuating bond can be settled, one way or another."

He sighs, then gives her a sarcastic smile, "Well, bottoms up I suppose." Downing the vial quickly, he gags at the truly _wretched_ taste. Covering his mouth as he coughs, he looks at Lily with watery eyes, "God, what was _in_ that? No, no, wait, I change my mind. I _don't want to know_."

Lily grimaces slightly, "Yea, that's… probably for the best… Some of the things in potions can be pretty disgusting…" Then she sighs, "Brace yourself. It should be kicking in within the next couple seconds."

Kazuto doesn't even get a chance to nod before it happens. It feels like there's a void in his mind, and it seems to drain away all warmth, leaving his mind a cold dark place where happiness was nothing more than a distant memory.

He shakes like a leaf, "How- How am I supposed to live like this?"

Lily sighs, "Well considering the alternative is possibly dying… The effect of dampening one's connection to their mate is like a weaker version of the a Dementor's presence, a creature that devours souls and sucks all happiness from those nearby, leaving them with only their worst memories… The potion isn't _as_ bad, you can still _be_ happy, but given the comparable effects, it earned the nickname 'Dementor's Blood', though I assure you that isn't part of the ingredients that go into it… I truly am sorry that this is necessary…"

* * *

November 17th, 2024

Mike watches his sister with weary worry. It had been nine days since the majority of the players had woken up, and Kikuoka had finally gotten sick and tired of waiting to see if the remaining three hundred players woke on their own. So, being the weekend, he'd had Mike brought in, hoping to get some answers from Marzanna or her mind.

Mike however, was exceedingly doubtful of them getting any answers. He and his sister's twin bond had been _unnaturally_ quiet considering his sister was still alive.

Mike is pulled from his thoughts as the device is finished being set up, still set to see everything from his perspective just in case. Quickly slipping the armband that was the part of the device connected to him, he entered his sister's mind without hesitation. However, when he opens his eyes after entering her mind, it isn't the cluttered yet pristine library he's gotten used to. Now, the room had been been _utterly_ _**trashed**_ , there were cracks running through all of the bookshelves and the ground, and entire chunks of the ceiling had collapsed in shadows seeming to _ooze_ out of the holes and drape themselves over the majority of the vast ruin.

This- This was _terrible_ and he stares in absolute horror at the damage to his sister's mind. It's literally beginning to _fall apart_ , and seems to be just _barely_ holding itself together. He grows distantly aware of voices, his mother, his father, Kikuoka, but their distorted and unimportant in the face of his sister's mind literally breaking apart. It's only when he resolutely collects himself that he realizes he's materialized on the Quidditch pitch rather than the central point he usually did, and that it's encased in a pristine dome of clear crystal.

Which explained how horrifyingly silent his sister's mind has been _despite_ what has apparently been to her. She'd been _**protecting**_ him. Wasting _precious_ time and mental energy that could've been used protecting _herself_ despite the fact that more often than not he was to far away for it to _affect_ him **anyway**. And she'd probably- yes, he could just barely make out another crystal dome, smaller as it wasn't yet a full bond, but still protected. Despite the fact that it was _equally_ _stupid_ for her to waste energy on protecting Kazuto, seeing as without the full bond, the most this chaos would affect him would be a sense of uneasy and worry when he's in the ruin with Marzanna. Which happened _anyway_ since he'd been taking that stupid potion, which seeing as it dulled their bond, left him protected _**anyway**_.

With a frustrated huff, Mike ignores the panicked chatter on the other end and marches over to the edge of the dome before placing a hand on it, "You listen to me, and you listen to me _**right now**_ Marzanna, trying to protect us is stupid. Kazuto won't be affected at all, seeing as circumstances have forced us to take drastic measures and dull his side of your bond, and I'm rarely close enough to feel anything happening to you anyway, so stop _wasting_ your already _precious_ resources of time, focus and mental energy on us! And you let me out this _instant_ and _let me_ _ **help**_. I don't want to risk damaging your mind further by forcing myself through but I **will** if you don't let me out of here right _**now**_."

There's a noticeable lack of reaction, so Mike sighs, "Fine, you wanna do it that way? We'll do it that way."

Concentrating as hard as he can he summons his magic up, then attempts to force his way through the barrier his sister has set up as gently as possible. Which he knew was a self contradicting concept, but he'd try his Merlin damned hardest to pull it off. After a full minute of pushing on it with his magic, he begins to wonder just how _much_ his sister had poured into these barriers, and his worry for her increases. Then finally, a segment of the dome shatters and the rest of it begins to rapidly crumble away as a result, miraculously without damaging the surrounding area of Marzanna's mindscape.

Immediately Mike falls to his knees with a cry, panting heavily as he stares at the ground with unseeing eyes. Despair, terror, and grief accompanied by an agony close to the Cruciatus Curse tore through him the instant the barrier was down. He understood why it was breaking his sister's mind apart, but rather than being drowned out, his anger at her waste of resources only flared up into a fury that coupled with his fierce determination dulled everything else to bearable levels. He wraps them around himself like an invisible armor, and the bombardment stops. It's only then that he notices the screaming, and that it's _him_.

Taking a deep breath he pulls himself together, makes his actual body stop screaming, and it's then that he hears his mother's frantic voice, a mere moment before he feels her start messing with the armband, attempting to try and yank him with it.

He shakes his head rapidly, "No! Mom stop! I've got it under control now, and Marzanna _needs_ _**help**_."

His mother hesitates, torn between saving one of her children and protecting the otherwise. It's a cruel choice for a mother to have to make, which is part of the reason he takes it from her, "You told me back when Hogwarts sent me the annual letter that I was free to make my own decisions, that you'd _support_ me. Well, I'm _**choosing**_ to help Marzanna, and even if you unplug that thing, I'm _not going anywhere_."

He hears his mother sniffle lightly, "But…"

He slowly pushes himself to his feet, "I know mom. I'm asking of you to watch one of your children suffer for the sake of another, and it's unfair, maybe even cruel. I know that. This is my choice though, and I'm _going_ to help my _sister_. You don't have to stay in the room, but I am doing this."

His mother takes a deep breath, "I understand… How are you coping with whatever that was?"

He heaves out a breath, "Basically shrouded myself in my fury and determination, which is acting as a barrier of sorts… Actually, that might've been part of the process Marzanna used to create those crystal barriers, though I doubt she used fury… Her love for us perhaps?"

There'd been a strangely tense silence on the other side as he muttered to himself, while he examined his surroundings closely, trying to decide where to start. Then suddenly, his dad sighs, "Fine ok… Honestly, of course I'm hesitant, you're my _mate_. There was no need to play dirty and question if I love our kids… That was a low blow."

His mother's voice washed over him from closer, irritation clear in her tone, "I love you babe, but you of all people should know that I _don't fuck_ _around_ when it comes to our children."

He's baffled and unsure of what's going on, at least until he feels his mother's soft fingers gently pull open his eyelids, and her presence enter his mind, then follow him along his link to Marzanna. A moment later she appears, her brow pinching with strain before a reddish aura seems to engulf her, exuding love, determination, fury, and a general but powerful strength, and though he's never actually felt this mental presence, it still _feels_ like him, so he knows in a heartbeat that his dad is helping in his own way by protecting his mom, seeing as he doesn't have the sort of mental ability for this sort of work.

Dual tones of fury quickly mix into his mother's aura as both of his parents' rage mounts as they briefly feel for themselves what Marzanna is going through. His mother looks around with a critical eye, "We've got a lot of work to do. We should start with the nexus point in her mind. If we can stabilize and repair that, it'll start spreading naturally. Though, we'll likely have to continually do maintenance until we can figure out and put a _**stop**_ to wherever is doing this to her."

Mike nods in agreement, knowing better than to argue with his mother's presence, especially after his little speech about making their own choices. Then he glances at his mother, "You get started on that. I'm going to break down that barrier surrounding Kazuto. She's wasting precious limited resources keeping them up under that strain, and I won't have her doing that when it's entirely unnecessary."

His mother nods, and they begin to make their way towards the nexus point. It takes a solid hour, in which Kikuoka leaves quickly, to pick their way through the rubble. They do _some_ repair work along the way, but as they're saving their energy to take down the other barrier and begin restoring the nexus point, they only do things that will make it easier and quicker to get to the nexus point the next time they come.

When they finally reach the nexus point, they find the large open area situated dead center between the massive bookshelves has almost entirely crumbled away into an abyss, it's edges dangerously close to collapsing and swallowing entire shelves despite their massive size. Mike is frozen with horror at the sight. As the nexus point, if it fully collapsed, the rest of Marzanna's mind would follow at an alarming pace and it looked like Marzanna only had a day or two at most, without interference, before that happened. At this point, the damage wasn't permanent despite how bad it seemed, but if the nexus point disappeared entirely…

Shaking his head, he shares a look in grim determination with his mother before her eyes narrow, "Dante, call Eva and Alessio and have them collect Severus as well. We… We're going to need a lot of help with this, at least in the repairing segment, maintenance should be easier once we've restored the nexus point, but…"

His father's reassuring, but _absolutely_ _ **furious**_ voice comes from everywhere around him, "I'm already on it. You just focus on what you can do _now_."

Messages delivered, Mike nods resolutely at his mother, "I'm taking down that barrier _now_. If she hadn't been wasting resources, wasn't still doing it, it might not have gotten this bad so soon…"

His mother nods firmly, already kneeling at the edge of the abyss with her hands pressed against it, a gentle glow flowing from them and into the cracks, repairing them painfully slow.

With no time to lose, he turns and carefully navigates around the utterly empty pit as quickly as he can. It's another twenty minutes before he arrives at the other barrier, despite her soulmate bond being incredibly close to the nexus point by nature. Eyeing it for a few moments, he carefully repeats the process used to take down the one around the representation of his twin bond to her.

Having a better grasp at how to tear down the barrier without hurting his sister, this one falls much faster. However, he comes to regret it almost instantly as the once quiet area is quickly filled with sobs. Rushing over to the bed, he pushes the canopy aside with slight panic. Immediately his eyes fall upon the very thing he'd been dreading from that first sob. His sister, curled up in the center of the bed, hadn't just been trying to protect her mate, she'd been taking refuge in their very bond itself, the smaller thing much easier to keep safe than the entirety of her mind. His gaze flickers to the rapidly breaking barrier, as horrified understanding washes over him and he realizes he'd stripped away his sister's final line of defense.

He quickly scoops up his sister, who doesn't seem to even register it, then dashes back to his mother quickly, attempting to wrap his sister in his own 'barrier', it doesn't seem to protect her as well as it does him, but her cries taper off into whimpers, "Mom! Mom help!"

His mother's head comes up, and her eyes widen as she hurries around the tiny ledge between the void and the shelves, "What happened?!"

As his mother begins examining her, he tightens his protective hold on his sister, "I- I made a colossal mistake. She- She wasn't _just_ trying to protect Kazuto… She'd taken refuge in there."

His mother looks at him in shock, "She was hiding in their fledgling bond itself?" Then her expression turns grim as she shifts her gaze back to Marzanna, "In that case… I hate to see her suffer as much as you do, but this is for the best. Locking herself away from the majority of her own mind… It could only have been making this mess worse…." She furrows her brow in thought, then nods decisively, "Protect your sister as best you can for now. The others should be here soon, and they can help me with the nexus point. Once that's done, we'll help her erect a barrier around that instead to take refuge in. It should protect her from whatever this is while still giving het limited access to the rest of her mind…" Then she sighs and turns back to the abyss with grim determination, "Though that makes repairing this as soon as possible more important than ever…" She points a bit off to the side absently, "Go over there with your sister. Having her no longer sealed off and near the nexus point should make this a bit easier abd quicker, but someone needs to protect her from _this_ until we can get a barrier up…"

Mike nods and retreats a slight distance before carefully sitting down with his sister in his lap. How could things have gone so **wrong** so _**fast**_ when things were just starting to look up? And how? Why? They _**needed**_ the answers to this question, and _soon_ , his sister was depending on it.

* * *

December 21st, 2024

Kazuto's eyes narrow suspiciously as nurse Aki comes in humming a merry tune. Though she had seemed to 'get used to him' after their… rough first meeting, he still wasn't overly fond of the woman.

So anything that could make her that happy was probably bad news for him. He supposed it could be completely unrelated to him, or perhaps just Christmas cheer since the holiday was so close, but he was suspicious nonetheless, "I'm probably not going to like your answer, but what's got _you_ in such a good mood?"

Nurse Aki's smile widens, "Actually, I think you'll be ecstatic to hear this. Some of the patients, including yourself I might add, are being released today."

Kazuto stares at her for a moment, trying to decide if she's just yanking his chain. Upon realizing she's being honest, he can't help but smile in satisfaction. He was amongst quite a few players who had been pushing themselves as much as the doctors would allow in their physical therapy. Some of them just wanted to try and get their lives back in track as quickly as possible, but some, like him, couldn't stand being so _weak_ and _reliant_ on the nurses and were pushing themselves simply to be back on their own feet as quickly as possible.

He was incredibly happy that it was paying off. The past month and a half had been a real test of patience and mental fortitude between suddenly going from _The Black Swordsman_ to someone so weak the nurses got huffy if he tried to simply go to the room next door to visit Marzanna without using a wheelchair. The 'going to the bathroom on his own' argument had been shut down faster than Asuna attacks, with a steady glare and stubborn refusal.

Kazuto tilts his head back, "Home just in time for the holidays, huh?"

Nurse Aki nods, "Yes. The New Year's celebrations are bound to be spectacular this year, with so many finally coming home after two years, as I'm sure there will be more patients being released leading up to New Year's."

Kazuto huffs a laugh, "Yea, probably. Who knows, my dad might even take some time off of work and come home this year… My mom said he did when I first got trapped…"

Nurse Aki smiles lightly, "I hope he does. After everything you kids went through in there, you deserve some time with your families…"

* * *

Kirito smiles warmly as he exits the house to a burst of laughter from Yui and Hanna. Closing the door and adjusting the cloak that was part of his casual clothes, he turns back to the message from Klein raving about the latest unfortunate girl to have met that his friend swore up and down was 'the one', just like the last twenty.

Yui giggles happily, "Come on papa! Come play with us!"

He glances up briefly, then turns back to the message to reply, "Just a minute! I just need to finish replying to Klein!"

Of course, as soon as he sends the message and closes his menu a snowball hits him in the face. Looking up, he sees his mate grinning mischievously as Yui giggles madly. He can't help but laugh, "Oh, you're going to get it now! It's-"

He's cut off by a crash from inside the house, and whirls around in confusion. Looking through the window, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong in the house. The only thing he can see in the window is his own reflection staring back at him, clad in his full regular gear.

A wretched sob that hits him like a knife to the gut and twists in sounds from behind him, and when he turns, it's to see Hanna on her knees holding Yui's dress as she cries her heart out. He hurries over without hesitation, "Hanna?! Where's Yui?!"

She turns and glares at him hatefully as she shoots to her feet, "Don't act like you don't know! Cardinal deleted her and it's _all your_ _ **fault!**_ You couldn't save her, you're too _pathetic_ to do something like that! I hate you!"

A second later the ground starts shaking, and a loud rumbling surrounds him. As Aincrad begins to break apart and fall into the void. Whirling around, he's horrified to see their house crumble away. When he turns back, Hanna is suddenly pressed against him as warm liquid covers his hand.

She chuckles bitterly in his ear, "We're going to die in a few minutes anyway, but that just wasn't quick enough for you, was it? You murderer."

After uttering those words she bursts into polygons, and his gaze slowly drops in horror. Only to see Elucidator in his hand, both the blade and his hand covered in her blood. Dropping the sword, he stumbles back a few steps in shock before falling down.

A moment later a cold voice breaks through his horrified silence, "You didn't honestly think I'd let you all go? Just like that?" Slowly turning his head, he sees Kayaba staring at him in disdain, "Of course not. But you did kill me, so Aincrad will be deleted with everyone still inside. Enjoy your _**victory**_ , Kirito, and know it's _all your fault_."

Shooting up with a gasp, it takes Kazuto a minute to realize he's in his room, in the real world. He looks around slowly, the gaping void in his mind feeling like a gushing wound, _'A nightmare… Just a nightmare…'_

His gaze shifts to the NerveGear sitting innocently on a shelf. Getting up, he goes over to look at the cross between a digital and analog clock with a digital read out of the date in the lower corner, on his wall. He sees his own reflection on the clean metal surface and realizes there are tears on his face.

He rubs them away quickly, but his eyes tear up again, though thankfully they don't fall. He sighs, "I've… become such a crybaby, Marzanna…" Then he glances down at the date, "January 19th already…"

He sighs, in other words it had already been two and half months since they'd gotten out of Aincrad, and yet Marzanna... A loud 'hya!' pulls him from his wayward thoughts with a smile. Suguha was likely outside next to the pond on their property property, doing some kendo exercises. She had, unknowingly of course, been a huge help in his coping with the side effects of having to take that damned potion.

Leaving his room, he swings by the kitchen to pick two bottles of mineral water, before going out to the porch. Sure enough, there was his little sister doing exactly as he'd expected. Sitting himself down in a comfortable position, he watches her for a bit with a smile, occasionally sipping one of the bottles.

Not wanting to distract her, he doesn't say anything until she finishes and turns. She looks startled, probably not having expected to see him sitting there, but he simply smiles warmly, "Morning Sugu."

She squirms slightly, still not used to him 'suddenly' appearing behind her. It wasn't _his_ fault he'd learned how to walk on utterly silent footsteps in Aincrad, but he couldn't blame his mother and sister for their reactions when he snuck up on them without thinking about it.

Fidgeting with her shinai, she stutters out a response, "M-M-Morning…" He tosses one of the bottles of mineral water to her, and she nearly drops it, but manages to catch it before it falls. Then she gives him a slightly irritated look, "Honestly… If you were watching, you should've said something."

He tilts his head, " Well… You were just so into it. I didn't want to distract you."

She moves over to sit on the edge of the porch next to him, "I really wasn't. It's just a habit now."

She sets the shinai down, leaning it against the porch, to drink the water he'd brought her. He picks it up, holding it in front of him with both hands, "You've kept it up this whole time." There's a brief pause, then without thinking about it, he murmurs, "It's so light…"

"Eh?" Looking over, he sees Suguha lowering the bottle and giving him a weird look, "That's timber bamboo, so it's pretty heavy."

He blushes a tiny bit at automatically trying to judge the practice weapon based on its weight as he had so many times in Aincrad, "Oh, um… Well… I guess it just isn't as heavy as I'm used to…"

Setting it back down, he grabs his own bottle of water, chugging at it. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Suguha give him another weird look before turning her gaze to the ground and mumbling, "What are you comparing it to?"

Finishing his water, he glances at her before looking away with an embarrassed flush, "Ah, well… I did it without thinking about it really, but… I was comparing it to my swords in Aincrad… They were so much heavier... " Then he shakes his head and smiles slightly at her, "Want to give it a go?"

She gives him a curious look as he stands up and starts stretching, "A go? You mean sparring? With protective gear?"

Kazuto hums, "Yea. Aincrad may have had sword skills, but the difference between the ok players and the good ones was the ability to fight good _manually_. I won't pretend to be an expert, but I'd like to think that as one of the best players in that game that I picked up a few things. I'm curious how I'll match up to you… Especially since I was using my own style of fighting rather than something more along the lines of the standard style, but if you're alright with that…. We still have grandfather's gear, right? Let's do it in the dojo."

Suguha hums, "I don't mind you using your own style, but you sound pretty confident. I was a quarterfinalist in the middle school nationals. Think you stand a chance?"

He laughs lightly, "I didn't know that actually. Good job Sugu. There's only one way to find out though, isn't there?"

She smiles lightly, "Thank you Onii-chan, and yeah, I suppose so!" Then her smile slips away as she looks at him with worry, "But, are you sure you feel up to it? You shouldn't stress your body."

He gives her a reassuring smile, "I'll show you the results of all that rehab I've been doing at the gym."

She looks at him with worry for a few more moments, then smiles, "Ok then."

Their property wasn't huge, per say, but it was nice and spacious. The dojo was near the back on the east side, and as per their grandfather's wishes, it hadn't began destroyed when he passed. Seeing as Suguha was the only one to use it, it was up to her to keep it clean and the training gear well maintained, which she did dutifully.

Heading inside, the two quickly got into protective gear, then moved until they were in the middle of the dojo with the usual distance between them. Bowing to one another, they both moved into their stances. Suguha moved into a eager standard centered one, holding her shinai right in front of her with both hands, but Kazuto moved into his regular stance, widening the distance between his feet and lowering his center of mass.

He could just make out her giving him a weird look past her protective gear, but having been warned that he'd use his own style, she said nothing about it. After a moment, Suguha simply shook her head, then refocused, "Here I go."

He nods, "Okay."

She began to edge forward, but then paused as though second guessing herself. His stance seemed to throw her off, leaving her unsure how to respond, not that he could blame her. It was perfectly understandable, given that at first glance his stance seemed to leave him wide open in the front, seeing as his shinai was held slightly out and behind him.

Deciding against waiting for his hesitant sister to start the match, he rushes forward, bringing his sword up at her unprotected side. The sudden move seems to startle his sister, as it's clear she moves back from the attack purely on reflex, and her swing at his sword arm seems mechanical, though admittedly perfectly timed. Had he not been expecting it, he might have dropped his shinai, but he does, so he brings his arm closer and with a fluid almost swaying motion switched the shinai to his other hand and swung again. Suguha quickly ducks and moves back so the starting distance is between them again, looking utterly confused.

He chuckles lightly, before casually saying, "I probably should've mentioned. My girlfriend comes from a family with a tradition of learning how to use actual swords and the like rather than these bamboo ones, and she took it upon herself to teach me how to 'properly' fight during the past two years."

Suguha looks shocked for a moment, then seems to grow ridiculously determined to win in this fight where nothing but victory itself was on the line. Well, that and a bit of pride. He'd been The Black Swordsman, and she was apparently a regional quarterfinalist. He honestly didn't see why she was so determined, but if it meant that much to her, he'd give it his all out of respect for her. It would be utterly rude to challenge her and then hold back after it starts to mean something to her.

She dashes forward, going for his arm again, likely thinking him distracted, but he evades easily, pulling his arm back and twisting his body just enough to let it move clean past with a tiny gap, used to conserving himself with minimalistic dodges. That seems to startle her again, and it's then that he remembers that she had always been known for her high speed strikes. Though they had nothing on Hanna or Asuna strikes. Though, to be _fair_ the real world was slower in general than what he'd grown used to, and that included himself.

Nevertheless, when the already serious Suguha begins a furious assault, he dodges each blow with a practiced ease. His sister's fighting style was straight forward, stiff, and easy to read, compared to Hanna's confusing near dancing style she used when not trying to intimidate someone, like Kuradeel and the Army, or when she was fighting bosses, whose learning algorithms were based on predicting the group as a whole, rather than individual players. In irritation at being so thoroughly thwarted, his sister forcibly attempts to close the distance and lock swords with him, likely knowing that his still recovering body wouldn't be able to hold up all that well under her own bodies well trained strength.

His initial reaction is to simply cross swords and push her off balance, but at the last moment he remembers that he doesn't have his rather impressive strength stat and twists out of the way before beginning to manually go through the motions of a thirteen hit sword skill. His sister tries to keep up with the furious attack, but is overwhelmed, the eleventh hit smacking her shinai from her hands and the twelfth almost striking true, but stopping just barely an inch short.

Suguha stares wide eyed at the shinai for a moment, then slowly lets out a shaky breath, "Well… I'd say your girlfriend did a good job teaching you…"

He laughs lightly as he pulls the training weapon away, "She mostly just let me develop my own style based off of the one handed sword skills. Though she did correct things in my style that _seemed_ to work in theory, but didn't hold up so well in practice, and helped me practice doing the sword skills manually. That's actually what that last thing was, it was a… recreation, if you will, of a high level one handed straight sword skill called Savage Judgement…."

Finishing his explanation, he absently goes to sheath hits weapon, then after a moment, realizes his mistake and pulls the shinai back around and looks at it with a slightly embarrassed flush, "Old habits die hard, don't they…."

Suguha giggles lightly, "You've become rather straightforward and blunt Onii-chan."

He shrugs lightly with a grin, "Blame it on Marzanna. That girlfriend of mine is American after all…"

Suguha shakes her head slightly, then moves to start removing the protective gear, "Come on. Let's go get breakfast."

Kazuto sighs, but nods. Neither of them were very good at cooking, their skill only really extended to sandwiches and salads, and that got old _remarkably_ fast. Still, food was food he supposed. At the very least, it _was_ better than what counted as a minimalistic meal in Aincrad, though it had been a while since he'd had to be conservative and stick to that. Despite how much time it's been since that was how he got by, sandwiches and salads were nevertheless still preferable to just a small loaf of bread and a jug of water after all.


	29. Alfheim Online

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I know that in canon there's only three valleys and one corridor in Alfheim to get from the territories of the races into the central area with the World Tree, but when I was reading some general information about Alfheim, I realized that all four of those access points are to the south, leaving the races with territories to the north with no way to get there without traveling halfway across Alfheim (in the cases of the two directly north, the ones to the northeast and northwest get off a bit easier), and that's absolutely stupid. Problem is Legrue doesn't really mean anything, so the other corridors don't really match up with it, thematically speaking. They aren't very clever either, just words that fit with the abilities of the races that have corridors in other languages. Sorry about the lack of creativity, but I didn't have much to work with.

January 19th, 2025

After their spar, he and Suguha went to the washroom to clean the sweat from their faces. Suguha, usually taking more time, allowed him to go first, and after he was done, he dried his damp hair, then put the towel around his neck, absently lifting part of it to start drying his face as he thought over the spar, muttering aloud in the process, "That third strike was functional, but it wasn't nearly as smooth as it should've been, and it didn't flow into the next attack as well as it should have… Might've been able to end the spar a couple hits sooner if I hadn't been sloppy there. Definitely going to need to work on that."

Suguha, just finishing up and apparently listening to his muttering, yanked her head up with an expression of poorly concealed hopeful excitement, "Really?! Does that mean you're taking up Kendo again?!" Then she blushes and visibly struggles to rein herself in, "I- I mean, if Onii-chan doesn't want to, that's ok, but… but it'd be fun to train and spar with Onii-chan…"

He smiles warmly at her, "Yeah, I'd like that. As much as I disliked kendo as a kid, a few good things did come from my time in Aincrad, my realization of how much I loved a good fight and genuine enjoyment of learning how to properly do so being one of them. Although, I'll definitely never be able to compete, seeing as my style definitely doesn't follow approved guidelines for actual kendo matches…"

Suguha beams at him, "That's ok! You can still spar with me, I don't mind you using your own style. Who knows, maybe Onii-chan can even teach me a thing or two that I could use in competitions."

He chuckles, "That's a bit doubtful. Marzanna would be more likely to be able to teach you something than I am." His smile slips for a moment, "If she were awake that is…" Then he shakes his head and grins slightly, "Still, it should be fun, and it's something we can spend more time together doing as we catch up on the time we lost. Plus, it's good exercise to get me back into shape."

Suguha, looks down briefly with a slightly contemplative smile, then seemingly spurred on by the conversation, returns her gaze to him looking like she wants to share something with him, "Actually, Onii-chan... I've also…" At the last moment though, she seems to change her mind, shaking her head before turning away, "Nope, I think I'll keep it a secret for now."

He looks after his happy sister in confusion, then shakes his head and follows her back to the house in bemusement. After going back into the house, Suguha glances back at him briefly, "So what are you doing today?"

He stops in his tracks, staring at her back before turning his gaze to the floor, "I'm going to the hospital…"

Suguha turns to him quickly, then looks away again as her mood seems to plummet. He wonders if it's a side effect of his own low mood. Then she sighs, "I see… You're going to see her, aren't you? Marzanna-san, was it?"

Kazuto sighs in frustration, "Yea, visiting is all I can do…" And _oh_ how that _grates_. How he wished this was just something he could physically attack with a sword. Shaking his thoughts of, he smiles lightly at her, moving to go past her into the kitchen, "Well, it's my turn to make breakfast," He pats her head lightly as he passes her, "so you go ahead and take a shower."

As he opens the door and steps into the kitchen, he hears Suguha faintly reply with a simple, "Yea…"

Closing the door behind him, he hovers near it with a frown. It had to be his own terrible mood affecting her, and that made him more guilty than ever for pushing her away when they were younger. He'd forced a distance between them, gotten stuck in a death game, then when he was finally free and ready to correct his mistake, it's only just in time to _infect_ her with his own misery.

* * *

After eating breakfast with his sister, Kazuto took a quick bath before setting out on his bicycle, which he'd gotten and taken to using whenever he had to go anywhere that wasn't particularly close as another means of exercise.

As much as he wanted, _needed_ , to be there for her, being in his mate's unresponsive presence only seemed to make the hole in his mind pulsate painfully, seeming to make him crumble away further and further. Lily had assured him that it wasn't tearing apart his mind to visit his mate, but she'd told him it was an understandable assumption, given the immense strain their bond was under. Still, though Lily had assured him that it was understandable if he didn't come, he visited her every other day, barring when he had appointments for physical therapy and the like, and even then, he went out of his way to try and leave those days free.

It was a forty minute trip by bike, but Kazuto didn't mind, despite that fact it seemed to take forever, he also seemed to get there all too soon, and it wasn't long before he was locking up his bike and heading inside. Hesitating briefly in the elevator, he soon pushed the button for Asuna's floor rather than Marzanna's. He made sure to visit their friend at least once a week, and it was always best to visit her first, given how quickly he lost track of time with Marzanna. More often than not, it was too such an extreme that he usually had to be told by the nurses that visiting hours were over.

Reaching her room, he quickly entered and pushed the curtain cutting through the room aside, before moving over to Asuna's bedside. He observes his still comatose friend for a moment then reaches down and squeezes her hand briefly, "Asuna… Marzanna and you are two of the strongest people I know, so I have faith that whenever is going on, the two of you will fight it. Still, you guys being like this… it's affecting everyone. Lizbeth hardly ever smiles, Argo always seems unsure of what to do, hell even Klein doesn't seem to know what to say anymore and is silent more often than not…" He smiles faintly, "Though that last one isn't necessarily a bad thing." Then his smile slips and he sighs, "I guess what I'm trying to say is… I _know_ you guys are fighting this, but please… fight a bit faster? I suppose that's an ironic thing to say to someone nicknamed «Lightning Flash», but... _None_ of us can truly come home until we all do…"

Giving her hand one last squeeze, he let go and straightened up. Staring at her for a few minutes in thought, before he's pulled back to the present by the door opening. Turning he sees Asuna's father and CEO of the electronics company RCT, Yuuki Shouzou, come around the curtain with a bouquet of flowers. He already knew that RCT was one of the best technology companies in the world, but he'd been a bit surprised to learn that it was also the leading magi-tech corporation in the magical world.

Shouzou pauses upon seeing him, though he's smiling faintly, "Oh, you're here, Kirigaya-kun."

Kazuto dips his head in apology, "Hello. Sorry to interrupt Yuuki-san, I didn't realize you were visiting Asuna today. I was coming to visit Marzanna and thought I'd stop by and see how Asuna was doing."

Shouzou shakes his head, then moves around the bed to change the flowers there out with the fresh bouquet, "No, don't worry about it. Visit whenever you like. I'm sure it makes her happy." Then he sighs, "I would ask how Sparda-san is doing, but…" His eyes drift from his now complete task of changing the flowers out to Asuna before he sighs again, "Well, I'm sure I already have a fairly good idea…"

Kazuto nods slightly, and there's a brief pause before another male voice speaks up from near the end Asuna's bed, "President…"

Kazuto shifts his gaze to the unfamiliar man, and Shouzou glances between them quickly, "Oh, you haven't met before, have you? This is our laboratory chief, Sugou-kun."

Sugou appeared to be just past his thirties, and was tall, wearing a dark grey suit and thin glasses, with a pleasant smile giving off a positive first impression of the man. However… Well, maybe his weary mind and two years and SAO were just making him a bit paranoid, but something seemed… off about the man, and Kazuto immediately didn't trust him.

Sugou tilts his head slightly, "I'm Sugou Nobuyuki. Nice to meet you."

Kazuto stares at him for a moment, then deciding that regardless of his gut feelings, it was best not to be rude to his subordinate with Shouzou in the room, he politely offers his own name, "Kirigaya Kazuto."

The man gasps lightly, then moving from the end of the bed, he approaches Kazuto and grabs his hand Yui shake it, "Really? So you're the hero Kirito-kun?"

Kazuto glances at Shouzou, slightly confused at how Sugou knows that. Shouzou turns to him fully with mild embarrassment, "Oh, I apologize… We aren't supposed to discuss what happened inside the SAO server, right? He's the son of a dear friend though. He's always been like family, so it didn't even occur to me not to tell him when he asked."

Sugou's still pleasant smile growing and becoming warm at that, but the comment seems to remind him of something, "Oh, president… About that," He turns away from Kazuto to fully face Shouzou before continuing, "I'd like to make it official."

That seems to surprise Shouzou a bit, "I see… But are you certain? You're still young. You could start a new life."

Sugou nods, still giving the older man that large warm smile, "My heart has always been set on one thing." He pushes his sliding glasses back up his nose as he turns his attention to Asuna, "I'd like Asuna-san to wear her wedding dress while she's still beautiful."

Kazuto's eyes widen in disbelief, unable to wrap his head around the idea of marrying Asuna off while she's in a _coma_ and unable to reject. Surely that couldn't actually be _**legal**_? Or at the very least, he wouldn't think it was legally binding… Although, perhaps Asuna had agreed to this in some way _before_ they all got stuck in Aincrad. She never mentioned being betrothed, but that didn't necessarily mean she _wasn't_. For all Kazuto knew, she could actually be in love with Sugou, as like most in Aincrad, she hadn't spoken of her life in the other side all that much, if ever. Somehow though… Kazuto seriously doubts that is the case...

Oblivious to the worried turmoil surging through Kazuto, Shouzou nods lightly, "That's a good point…. It might be time to decide." Then he seems to remember something as he spots the clock, and begins to make his way to the door, "I'm sorry to end our conversation, but I have a meeting. We can discuss this another time." Pausing at the foot of Asuna's bed, he turns to Kazuto, "Kirigaya-kun, I'll see you again."

With farewells out of the way, he quickly strides from the room, leaving Kazuto with Sugou and the comatose Asuna. There's a brief silence after Shouzou closes the door behind him as Sugou calmly walks around Asuna's bed to stand on her other side, "Why do you look so bothered by this? From my understanding, despite all the time you spent with Asuna, it was almost always with your _wife_ as well. Though, I honestly don't know why you'd want to marry anyone else with a _breathtaking_ thing like Asuna around."

He sneers the word "wife" in an unpleasant condescending manner, and Kazuto clutches his fists reflexively. While there had been a general lockdown on info about what had happened in SAO, certain things had been almost impossible to hide due to the consequences. While there probably weren't that many in general who had been married in real life trapped in Aincrad, seeing as the average age of the players had been in the low twenties, there were enough for the media, who already had almost all of their attention focused on the Aincrad players after most of them woke up and the hundred remained in a coma, had quickly noticed when over fifty of those people ended up getting divorced to marry their Aincrad partners.

The media had jumped onto one of the few scraps of information about what had happened in those two years, and soon started talking about how marriage in Aincrad had been just as real for the players as getting married in real life, blowing it totally out of proportion of course. There had been more than one argument about whether or not the government should acknowledge those marriages as just as real as those in this world. The general opinion however, was that with so many players in a coma, and thus not able to decide for themselves if they wanted to go through with their Aincrad marriages in the real world, and so many more underage, who were treated as children who didn't _truly_ understand what marriage was about and were too young to be truly in love, Aincrad marriages had all been laughed off as a joke. Receiving both disdain and disbelief for his marriage to Hanna, for being married in general rather than any towards them specifically, was one of the most frustrating and infuriating things Kazuto had to put up with since returning. It didn't help that after having to dull their bond almost as soon as he returned, that it almost felt like they were right, that their connection had only been real in Aincrad, and now that he was back, it had been broken like glass.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he glares at Sugou, "Yes. Me and my _**wife**_ were very good friends with Asuna. I just don't see how it can be deemed unfair to enforce the Aincrad marriages on those in a coma due to them being unable to protest, but ok to marry Asuna off while she's _also_ in a coma."

Sugou leans over Asuna, picking up a stand of her hair, "Oh, she absolutely despises me." Then he unexpectedly brings the stand up to his face, sniffing it like a total creep, and disgust joins the fury in his glare as Sugou lifts his head to smirk at Kazuto, "She's always been a good, _obedient_ girl though. Even if she was awake, she'd most likely do it anyway, just because she was _told_ to."

Kazuto's fists clench tighter, his dull short nails beginning to cut into his palm in fury at the injustice being done to his friend, at his _complete inability_ to _stop it_ , and though he's beginning to question if it's actually true, he tries to use the law to protest this treatment of his friend, as though she was just some _object_ to be _**possessed**_ , "You can't do that… To marry someone properly, they have to give their consent…"

Sugou sits near the head of Asuna's bed casually, "Indeed. It can't be done legally. On paper, I'll simply be adopted into the Yuuki family." He begins to run his finger over Asuna's face, and at this point Kazuto wants to just _punch_ the creep, but he holds his ground, knowing that an assault charge won't help anyone. Simply continues to let Sugou talk, "Like I said, she's always despised me. Though neither of our parents know that. For all her obedience, she hates me so much that there actually is a tiny chance for it to be the first time she rebelled against her parents wishes…" He runs his finger just under, than over her lip, "So this situation is quite fortunate for me… As I said, it's only on _paper_ that I'll be adopted. I'll be considered Asuna's husband by our parents, which means I'll get all the benefits without worrying about her making a scene and ruining it for me… Of courses they'll likely want us to make it _official_ if she ever wakes up, which is doubtful, but if that does happen it's a simple matter to convince our parents to wait until she's recovered before bringing it up, and _that_ would give me plenty of time to _convince_ Asuna to-"

Kazuto, unable to just stand by and let this creep do that to Asuna, had marched around the bed furiously and now grabbed Sugou's arm in an iron grin, all but growing in his fury, "Stop it." Surprisingly, Sugou struggles in his grip for a moment before managing to yank his arm away with a glare. A glare which Kazuto returns with an intensity a hundred times Sugou's, "You…. You're disgusting. Taking advantage of the fact Asuna is in a coma… I can see why she hates you."

Sugou's anger turns into a smirk, "Take advantage? No, this is my right. Listen, Kirigaya-kun. Do you know what happened to Argus after they developed SAO?"

Kazuto continues to glare furiously, but seeing that Sugou seems to be patiently waiting for it, he bites the obvious bait, "They went bankrupt."

Sugou nods in satisfaction, continuing to smirk, "Yes. The development costs, plus the massive damages they were forced to pay, bankrupted the company. And the maintenance of the SAO servers was entrusted to the electronics manufacturer RCT. It wasn't a coincidence of course, Shouzou fought for the right for his company to maintain the servers, too worried for Asuna to let anyone else handle it. Do you know where I work in that company? I work for its Full-Dive Technology Research Division." He stands up to smirk down at Kazuto for a moment, "You could even say that I'm the one who's keeping Asuna," he leans down to whisper threateningly to Kazuto, "and that _wife_ of yours for that matter, alive… So I can ask for a little something by way of compensation, can't I?"

Finally he straightens up and moves past Kazuto, but he pauses after only a couple steps, "I don't know how close you were to Asuna in the game, but I don't like it in the slightest, and I'd prefer that you never come back. Or have any contact with the Yuuki family for that matter. I might even be so _distraught_ and _accidentally_ make a mistake with that _**wife**_ of yours. It would be such a tragedy, surviving two years in that game only to die because of some sort of computer virus accidentally setting off the NerveGear…" His demands and threat delivered, he begins to make his way to the door, absently adding in a smug tone, "The ceremony will be help in this hospital room in one week, on January 26th. The Japanese calendar has more auspicious days for a wedding, but it's a day that brings misery to friends, so I'll invite you." His footsteps pause briefly, "Cherish this last meeting, _Hero-kun_."

A moment after his mocking goodbye, Kazuto hears the door open, Sugou leave, and the door close, once more leaving him alone with Asuna, though his heart was full of more despair than it had been since he first took the Dementors Blood, or when he realized Marzanna wasn't simply _late_ in waking which were _the_ _**worst**_ moments of his life since waking. Marzanna was in danger _again_ and he couldn't even just stab the problem this time. Well, he could, but he'd go to prison, and neither Marzanna nor Asuna would want that. Even if it was an _**extremely**_ tempting idea.

He furiously wipes at the tears he finally realizes are streaking down his face, hoping he hadn't unknowingly given that _**bastard**_ the satisfaction of seeing him cry. He turns to Asuna, hesitating before grabbing her hand after the creepy display from Sugou, then discarding the idea of simply grabbing her hand being creepy as had crossed his mind for the ridiculous notion it was.

For a moment, he just stares at their hands, "... I'm sorry Asuna… I feel like you'd understand, with Marzanna's life on the line, but…" Then he shakes his head, before lifting it to stare at her resolutely, even though she obviously can't see him, "No. No, I'm not going to give in. I'm not going to let that- that _creep_ do this to you. I- I'll figure _something_ out… I will… I- I promise... I won't be able to visit though… But, don't think that means I've forgotten about you. You're still mine and Marzanna's friend, and I **won't** abandon you."

Giving her hand one last squeeze. He turns and leaves, heading back to the elevator and down to Marzanna's room deep in thought. There had to be _something_ he could do… He supposed the most likely place for him to find answers was within the very laws that Sugou was trying to manipulate, but he didn't really know much about law… Well, it never hurt to know how your government worked did it, and he supposed now was good a time as any to learn. He'd certainly never be a lawyer, but if he could find even one thing to help with Asuna…

Entering Marzanna's room, he pulls his thoughtful gaze from the floor as he hears movement, moving around the curtain he sees Lily and Kyrie, the wife of Marzanna's brother-like cousin, are visiting, and Kyrie is changing out flowers, much like Shouzou had done not even a half hour prior.

Entirely used to Kazuto's frequent visits, Lily smiles at him warmly, "Kazuto! I was wondering where you were, usually-" Then she seems to notice something in his expression, or perhaps his body language, and her smile turns into a worried frown, "Kazuto? What's wrong sweetie? Is it the potion?"

Kazuto shrugs, though the usual term of endearment, once jarring and strange, soothed him a bit. Then it hits him, Lily and them were magicals, with _direct_ ties to both societies governments, maybe, but just as he opens his mouth to tell her he realizes what a bad idea that is. He likes Lily, she's kind and caring, but she also has a firm idea of justice, if he told her, she'd go to the police and their magical counterparts _immediately_. The problem was, it would be Sugou's word, who seemed to be a well respected higher up in a prestigious company, not to mention the trust Shouzou, the _CEO_ of that company and Asuna's _father_ clearly put in the man, against _his_ , a no name teenage boy that the authorities would likely believe was suffering from _delusions_ after the 'traumatic experience he'd gone through', a phrase he'd heard many times since waking up for various reasons, but had grown to _**hate**_.

He supposed… but no, that was ridiculous. Ever since waking up and having magic proven to him beyond a shadow of a doubt, not that there was much to begin with, he'd found himself almost automatically assuming magic could do most of the stuff you heard it doing in fictional media. Having not had the time to truly start learning of the magical world, and more than a bit unwilling to do it without Marzanna, and thus being unable to get even a basic understanding of what they could do, he often had to remind himself that the majority of those fictional concepts of what magic was capable of were exactly that. Fictional concepts. It would be really useful right now though, if they really _could_ read minds.

Finally, unable to tell Lily without risking both Marzanna and Asuna's safety if she doesn't give him a chance to explain why it's a bad idea, he simply sighs, "It was nothing. Just… Just a bad day… Though the potions effects… are probably making it worse..."

Neither Lily or Kyrie seem to believe that explanation, but to his relief, they don't push. It was rather true though. Today may have started off fine, but it's become a bad day indeed.

* * *

Later that night, he finds himself sitting on his bed, staring blankly at his NerveGear on the shelf across from him as he tries to think of some way to change the situation without risking Marzanna or Asuna. His study of laws hadn't yielded any results so far, and if fact, had worryingly seemed to support Sugou, seeing as he wasn't _technically_ marrying Asuna, and no one but Kazuto knew about his little… performance today.

He barely registers it when Suguha's voice drifts through his bedroom door, "Onii-chan? The bathroom's free." After a few moments of not getting a response, Suguha hesitantly opens the door, "Onii-chan, if you're in here, you should say something." She doesn't seem to immediately notice his mood, stepping inside and closing the door before moving past him, rubbing at her arms and shivering slightly, "You didn't even turn on the heat!"

He hears her turn on the heat for his room, but he can't bring himself to look at her, "Sorry. Could you leave me alone for a while?"

She turns to him with a slight frown, "But it's so cold. Honestly, you should go take a warm bath while your room-" She finally seems to pick up on his mood, cutting off mid sentence before hurrying over and crouching in front of him as she grabs his hands, "W-What's wrong?"

He looks away as he whispers, "It's nothing…"

That only seems to worry Suguha more though, "But… You're freezing… You'll get sick. You really should take a bath."

Kazuto can't help the sardonic smile at her worry for him. _He_ was perfectly _safe_. Marzanna and Asuna though… He lowers his head further, "I… really am hopeless." He lifts a shaking hand to his face, his voice beginning to tremble despite his attempts to keep a hold on his emotions, "I swore I wouldn't show any weakness around you, no matter what happened…"

Suguha stares at him in worry for a moment, "Did something happen to her? To Marzanna-san?"

Kazuto shakes his head, "N- No…. but Asuna, my friend…. And I'm so _**useless**_ I can't even save her from it… And Marzanna… Marzanna…"

Despite his best efforts to keep his little sister from seeing him in such a state, tears start to slide down his face, and it's not long that he loses the battle against his emotions entirely as he begins crying in earnest. His control on his emotions used to be kind of impressive, but between the jarring experience of returning from Aincrad, realizing Marzanna _wasn't waking up_ , and that _**damnable**_ potion, his control was shot to hell in a heartbeat. That gaping void in his head felt like it turned into a black hole, greedily sucking in every bit of happiness he'd managed to scrape together since taking it that first time, destroying it utterly and completely.

As soon as he starts crying, Suguha lunges up to pull him against her in a comforting embrace. For a moment, she just lets him cry into her shoulder, then she gently murmurs, "Just do your best Onii-chan. You shouldn't give up on the people you love so easily."

He honestly doesn't know how long he cries into Suguha's shoulder, and he doesn't remember stopping, but eventually sleep pulls him into its thankfully quite embrace, and miraculously, he experiences no nightmares.

* * *

January 20th, 2025

Gradually he becomes aware of how warm he is and the sunlight he can see even through his eyelids. Refusing to open his eyes and lose the enjoyment of his first nightmare free sleep in over a month and a half he instinctively hugged the body curled into him before his eyebrows furrowed. Marzanna felt weird… probably because it clearly wasn't her.

Shooting up, he twist around to look down in confusion, only to find Suguha curled up in his bed. For a brief instant, his confusion only seems to double, but then he recalls the previous night. He blushes in embarrassment at having apparently cried himself to sleep in his sister's arms, but he is grateful, both for the comfort she'd offered and for apparently keeping his nightmares at bay.

As he gazes at Suguha, he's rather abruptly reminded of Silica, whom he had compared to Suguha and who had also come into his, and Hanna's, room late at night. Though, back then, they'd gotten Silica back to her room, and there hadn't been any crying. He smiles as he remembers. Though he was still worried about both Marzanna and Asuna, he felt better. Like he'd been wrong last night. That, rather than a black hole pulling everything in and destroying it, it had simply been allowed to drain the pressure in it, like an infected wound.

His memories of Aincrad were some of his most precious. It didn't matter if they were happy or sad, they were still _real_ and his, despite what some people said, so he _**refuses**_ to treat them otherwise, and that includes Marzanna and his agreement to meet here and be together again. He absolutely _would_ _ **not**_ allow someone like Sugou to ruin that, and he _wouldn't_ betray the ideals of The Black Swordsman. He would find a way to save Asuna _without_ risking Marzanna.

He tilts his head at Suguha, whispering to her sleeping form, "What you said is absolutely right. It's far too early to be giving up. It's not over til it's over."

Looking at his clock, he blinks as he realizes what time it was, and turns back to his sister, "Hey, wake up Sugu." She groans and rolls onto her back, so he reaches out to poke her cheek, only managing to poke her a couple of times before she sleepily smacks his hand away and rolls back over, "Wake up…" He pulls her back over though, and pinches her cheek gently and tugs on it lightly, "You won't have time for to practice your kendo of you don't."

That seems to wake her, and he lets go of her cheek as she groggily opens her eyes and slowly focuses on him with another tired groan, "M-Morning, Onii-chan…"

He smiles at her, "Good Morning."

She pushes herself up into a sitting position as she rubs at her eyes and yawns, then looks at him sleepily again. His smile turns amused as he realizes it hasn't occurred to his sister that she's in _his_ room, not the other way around, and repeats himself, "Good Morning."

She blinks at him with sleepy confusion, then slowly looks around. After a moment, it finally seems to register what exactly she's seeing, namely _his_ room rather than her own, and she suddenly turns bright red as she quickly glances at him then stubbornly looks away, "Ah! Um… I…"

Without another word, she shoots to her feet and rushes out of his room. Kazuto watches her go with mild amusement, though he does wonder exactly why she was so embarrassed, then rubs at the back of his head as he hears her bedroom door slam, "Honestly…"

His attention is pulled to his computer by a notification beep. Getting up, he goes over to it, and is soon looking at an email notification. Absently dragging his computer chair over, as he opens his email account, and sits down as he opens the email itself. It was from Agil with an excited 'Look at this!' as the subject. Really excited for Agil to not only use an exclamation point, which was rare for the large man, but in fact use _two_.

Scrolling down, he sees that there isn't any actual message, but there is a photo attached. One that grabs his attention _immediately_. It was rather blurry, but it looked like… No that wasn't possible, "What is this?" But when he zooms in on the person's face, he can't help but shoot up from his seat and stumble back a few steps as it's unmistakably their comatose friend. Asuna. She was wearing strange clothes, and seemed to be in an enormous cage, not to mention her surroundings looked more like game graphics than real life, but it was _her_ without even a shadow of doubt, "What the hell?! Asuna!"

After a moment, he darts forward, snatching his phone up from his desk almost violently, and frantically calls the by now familiar number, it feels like it rings for hours before being picked up, but in reality it was likely only a few seconds before the ringing was replaced by a deep cheerful voice, "Hello?"

Without wasting a second, Kazuto starts in on him, "Hey! What the hell was that picture all about!?"

There's a sigh on the other end, "You know, it's generally considered good manners to introduce yourself over the phone before you start-"

Kazuto let's out a growl of frustration. Agil was one of his best friends, but he _did not have the_ _ **patience**_ at the moment, "I don't have time for that crap right now! Just hurry up and tell me!"

Agil hums, "Actually, it's kind of a long story, and I've actually got something I need to give you pertaining to it, so it's better if you can come over."

Kazuto nods even though Agil can't see it, "Right away. I'll be there right away!"

Kazuto had never gotten ready so fast in his whole life. Quickly gathering a change of clothes, showering, barely drying his hair and getting dressed, then snatching up his backpack seeing as Agil had said he had something for him, he's out of the door and riding his bike in record time. On the other hand, the route to Agil's shop had never seemed to take so long before, despite the fact he was going as fast as he could. Asuna and Marzanna were in the same boat. If Agil had managed to find some sort of information on Asuna, then….

Kazuto enters the shop, called the Dicey Café, without hesitation. There wasn't a single customer inside, and Agil seemed to just be absently cleaning cups, until he entered, "Hey. You got here quite fast but I suppose that's too be expected, seeing as it has to do with Marzanna and Asuna."

Kazuto pushes the door closed behind him, then approaches the bar Agil is standing behind, making small talk to gather and calm himself so as to not potentially miss anything important, "Does anyone ever come here besides me? Honestly, how on earth has your business survived?"

Agil huffs but he's smiling slightly, "Shut up. It's busy at night."

Dropping his backpack on one of the stools, he sits next to it, leaning on the bar before pinning Agil with a serious look, "So, what was that picture you sent?"

Agil sets the cup and rag on the counter, bending down to grab something from behind the bar, "It's a bit of a long story." Setting the thing on the counter, he pushes it to slide down to Kazuto, "Ever hear of this?"

Kazuto catches the thing, then looks it over in surprise, the 'thing' was actually a case showing a deep forest under the full moon, with two characters facing the moon and hovering with transparent wings, as the very bottom was a stylized title Alf Heim Online, "A game?"

Agil nods, "It's an MMO for the AmuSphere, a successor to the NerveGear."

Kazuto's serious gaze returns to the case, "Then it's another virtual MMO like SAO? Alf Heim online?"

Agil shrugs, "Without the death game part, obviously. And it's supposedly pronounced as one word, Alfheim. It means 'Land of the Fairies'."

Kazuto's brow furrows in thought as he picks the game up off the counter, "Land of the Fairies? Mostly a social game then?"

Agil shakes his head as he pours some coffee for Kazuto, "No, supposedly not. There's a heavy emphasis on player skill, and PKing is encouraged."

Lowering the game away from his face, he looks at Agil in confusion, "Player skill? But all MMOs..."

Agil shakes his head, "There aren't any actual player levels. Using skills improves _their_ levels, but the players themselves don't have such a system. There also aren't any sword skills. So combat depends heavily on the player's fighting ability. Of course, without the sword skills or the high stakes we had to learn under in SAO, most players aren't very good at actual combat, so from my understanding, most actual melee fights boil down to who can do the most damage and attack faster. Which makes two of the games nine races much more heavily used, seeing as the Salamanders have a strength buff, and Sylphs have an agility buff."

Kazuto looks back down at the game case with new eyes, "Hardcore."

Agil crosses his arms, "Like SAO with magic, but no sword skills, as I already mentioned. It's really popular. I've heard it's because you can fly."

Kazuto lifts his gaze to Agil with slight shock, "Fly?"

Agil nods, "In the game, you're a fairy, so you gave wings. It has something called a 'flight engine', and once you're used to it, you can fly."

Kazuto tilts his head, momentarily getting distracted by the prospect of flight and the mechanics of how such a thing would work. When the NerveGear was first released and all those terrible minor games for it were being released, it was stated that the biggest reason there were none in which you could fly under your own power was because of the fact you moved you avatar the same way you moved your real body, and the NerveGear simply intercepted those signals and used them as input for the avatar. Humans obviously didn't have wings, so controlling them had been considered nearly impossible, seeing as absolutely no one had experience with what muscles to move and how to control flight.

He tilts his head, eyes narrowing in thought, "The concept is amazing, but how does it work?"

Agil shrugs with a grin, "I don't know. But I hear it's pretty hard."

Kazuto turns an excited grin towards the fascinating game, "It certainly would be incredibly difficult to control wings considering humans don't have any. Maybe you use the muscles in your back? Probably those near your shoulder blades, given-" Agil pointedly clearing his throat pulls Kazuto back to the actual matter at hand. He stares like a deer caught in headlights for a moment, then sheepishly calms his excitement and places the case in the counter, "So what does this popular game have to do with Marzanna and Asuna?"

Agil pulls a photo out from under the counter, laying it in front of Kazuto. It was the same blurry photo he'd received via email from his friend earlier, "What do you think?"

Kazuto stares at the photo with furrowed eyebrows, "It looks like Asuna."

Agil nods, "Exactly like her."

Kazuto bangs a fist on the table as his frustration and impatience returns with a vengeance, "Just tell me already! What is this?"

Agil shrugs with a slight frown, "It's from inside the game, Alfheim Online." Picking up the case, Agil turns it over to show an incredibly basic map of the game only really showing the territories of the various races, a neutral zone in the center with a tree surrounded by mountains, and the caves and valleys that lead through the mountains to the neutral zone and the tree. Agil taps on the kind of cartoon looking tree, "It was taken at what's called The World Tree named Yggdrasil. A legendary castle sits atop this tree. Players are divided into nine races, all of them racing to reach the castle first."

Kazuto lifts his head from his study of the simplistic map to look at Agil, "Then they're prevented from simply flying up there?"

Agil nods, "Supposedly, there's a limit to how long you can fly, so you can't do it forever. The World Tree is so tall that it's impossible to reach even the lowest branches. And so, five players made a tower, bigger ones on the bottom, and flew up like a multistage rocket."

Kazuto's eyes widen incredulously for a moment before the idea sinks in and he can't help but smirk just a tiny bit, "I get it… It's dumb, but at the same time it's pretty smart."

Agil nods, "They didn't even make it to the tree's lowest branch though, but they _did_ manage to take a few pictures. They didn't see the castle, but something strange was in one of them."

Agil pulls out another photo, and Kazuto looks it over, "A birdcage?"

Agil nods as he leans against the counter, "And when they zoomed in on the cage as best they could," He taps the picture of Asuna again, "they found this. The photos caught my attention when they went viral, seeing as it was not only the closest look anyone has gotten at the top of the World Tree, but also because they found something so strange. It's blown up with debates on what it could be, but common theory amongst the players is that it's part of some quest once you reach the top. Of course, that's to the players of Alfheim, but to you and I… And if Asuna is there, then Hanna…"

Kazuto nods slowly, then picks the game back up with a frown, "But why would Asuna be there?" Turning the case over in his hand, his eyes drift over it, finally noticing the company brand at the bottom, RCT progress. Immediately his mind flashes to what had happened the day before, Sugou's words echoing in his head, and his expression hardens as suspicion begins to fill him, "Agil. Do you mind if I take this?"

Agil shakes his head, "Of course not. I got it _for you_ after all, after I found those photos. It's a slim chance of it actually being her, and it's pretty preposterous, but if there's any chance at all… I knew you'd want to check it out."

Kazuto quickly puts the game into his backpack then smirks at Agil, "A game where dying is ok is too easy." He chugs his coffee, then gets up to leave, "I'll have to buy the hardware too, but if there's even the tiniest chance… It's worth it."

Agil shakes his head at that, "No, it'll work with NerveGear as well. The AmuSphere may be slightly different than the NerveGear, but seeing as RCT bought the rights to their patents, one of the things that's still the same is the cartridges and how their read."

Kazuto grins at that, "Glad to hear it."

Agil smiles as lifts his hand for a fist bump, "Go save our girls. Otherwise, our fight can't truly end."

Kazuto nods, still grinning, "Yea, we'll all meet here someday."

Kazuto gives him a fist bump, then without another word, turns and leaves.

* * *

The sun is already well on its way to setting by the time he arrives home, due to late hour they'd woken up. When he arrives he finds Suguha on the porch, just stuffing a small muffin into her mouth in a very unladylike manner, "I'm home."

She looks at him in a startled manner, then despite her mouthful of food calls out to him, "Onii-chan!"

However her greeting seems to lodge some of the food in her throat as she immediately falls on her back from flailing wildly, and Kazuto begins to make his way over to help her. After a moment she seems to actually use her brain and try to reach for the juice pouch she had with the food.

She just ends up pushing it over however, so Kazuto quickly picks it up and places it in her hand, "Here."

She immediately starts drinking it, and after a moment she sits up with a deep sigh of relief, "I- I thought I was going to die."

He sighs in slight exasperation, "You're always so careless. Calm down a little." Moving over, he sits down lightly on the edge of the porch, "Sugu, about last night…"

She lifts her head with a blush, "Y-Yeah?"

He stares at the ground, attempting to gather his thoughts, "Um… Well… Thank you. Thanks to you, I feel better." Then he turns to her and grins, "I won't give up. I'm going to get Marzanna, and Asuna, back."

Suguha doesn't seem to quite understand what he's trying to say, which is understandable, since she doesn't know about the lead he just got, but she still nods with a smile, "Yeah. Good luck. I want to meet them too."

He stands up and pats her on the head with a grin, "I'm sure you'll like them." Then he turns to go inside, "I've gotta eat and take my medicine, but I'll probably be in my room all day after that, so I'll see you later."

Heading into the house and into the kitchen, he quickly began the process of making a few sandwiches. Today he was supposed to take his weekly dose of that hellish potion, which his family had simply been told was medicine to help him recover but might bring mood swings, however he had to eat something first as he couldn't take it on an empty stomach. Not that he was complaining about eating, he was basically always hungry, _especially_ since he'd returned from Aincrad. If fact, he was eating so much that he'd be genuinely worried if Lily hadn't explained it to him. It was fairly simple really, not only did he need energy for the increasingly intense physical therapy, and because he was still a growing teenager, but his body had also been burning through his energy at an alarming rate while it was preparing itself to change upon bonding with Marzanna. Since the potion stabilized that, his absurd appetite had decreased, but that was one of the effects it couldn't fully negate, so he still tended to be hungrier than he should be.

Once his sandwiches were made, he pulls the game case out of his backpack, then leans against the counter, absently reading the basic information about ALO on the back with the map as he eats. Once he's done with his meal, he sets the case on the counter as he takes his plate over to the sink to quickly wash it, before moving over to the cupboard to grab his medicine. With no small children in the house and the fact that Kazuto had to eat beforehand, no one had seen any reason not to store it in the kitchen.

After pulling a vial of the foul drink, which was genuinely beginning to make him _hate_ the color pink, he glares at it for a bit, as reluctant as usual to down it. He hears Suguha enter the kitchen, likely with the plate she'd had her muffins on. Huffing out a breath, he downs the vial quickly, grimacing at the disgusting taste.

Right then though, he hears a sharp intake of breath from his sister. Turning, he blanches when he sees the game case in her hand. She stares at it in shock for a moment, then slowly raises her gaze to him, "Onii-chan… You… You're going back? Into one of those?"

Wary at how she'll react, he's hesitant to answer, but there was no point in lying, she had the game in her hand, "...Yes. "

She simply stares at him blankly for a moment, " _Why_? Why **now**? Especially when-"

He doesn't know what that last sentence that she bites back before finishing is, but the most likely thing was why he'd do it _now_ when he'd just had the situation with Asuna and Marzanna laid out to him by Sugou, though she doesn't know the details of that. He moves towards her, and she quickly clutches the game to her chest with a look of determined defiance, clearly intending to keep it from him until she gets her answers. However, he simply ushers her over to the kitchen table and pulls out a chair for her in clear invitation.

She looks at him suspiciously for a moment, then sits. He sits next to her slowly, contemplating how much to tell her, before finally deciding to just tell her the truth, "Can I see your phone really quick?"

She gives him another suspicious look, then reaches into her pocket and dumps it on the table before quickly returning that hand to the game. He sighs a bit sadly at how little she seems to trust him to tell her the truth, then picks up her phone. Opening a popular social media app, at least it was before SAO started, he quickly searches Asuna's name, finds her profile, then opens a photo of her before setting the phone on the table it front of Suguha. Pulling his own phone from his pocket, he quickly opens his email and the photo Agil had sent him.

He stares at the photo on his phone for a moment, then looks at Suguha and nods towards her phone on the table, "That's Yuuki Asuna, the friend from SAO that hasn't woken up." Suguha leans forward in curiosity, studying the photo. When she leans back, he turns his phone to her, " _This_ is a screenshot taken from Alfheim Online." He lets his sister study it with patience that surprises even him, and her eyes slowly widen as they glance back and forth between their phones before finally shifting to him in total confusion. He sighs as he turns his phone back to him to stare at the photo that was giving him such _hope_ , "... It's… preposterous, I know, but… The company that owns Alfheim Online belongs to Asuna's father, and the man who runs their Full-Dive division… is Sugou Nobuyuki, he… You know how I came back from visiting Marzanna and Asuna in a terrible mood? It was because of him, he… As he put it, with his job as head of the Full-Dive division of RCT, which is responsible for that side of the players' care, he's basically the one keeping them alive. He… threatened Marzanna and was being a total creep with Asuna, sniffing her hair and rubbing her face in a _far_ less than innocent manner right in front of me. I couldn't go to the authorities though. It'd be my word versus his, and he's a seemingly respectable member of society, whereas I'm just a teenage SAO survivor."

He finally looks away from the photo to his sister to find her staring at him with horror. He lowers his gaze to the game in her arms, "I know it's a long shot, that it's more than a bit preposterous, but if there's even the _slightest_ chance… I have to see for myself." Then he extends his hand, palm up, "So please Sugu, give it back."

She glances down at the game, then shifts her grip so she's holding it in front of her, and stares at it for a minute before glancing at him, "But… You don't have an AmuSphere…"

He sighs, "The AmuSphere may be different, but it uses the same cartridges as the NerveGear did."

She pins him with a furious look, "You're using that thing again?!"

He rests his hand on her head in a comforting manner and smiles, "It's fine. Alfheim Online doesn't have the programming to send the signal to the NerveGear if I die. I'll be perfectly safe."

She stares at him a moment longer, then her fury drains away and she holds out the game to him, "I know I said it before our spar yesterday, but… you really have become more open and honest, Onii-chan."

He accepts the same gratefully, then smiles lightly at her, "You can thank Marzanna for that. She's always been firmly of the opinion that if there isn't a good reason to lie, you shouldn't."

She smiles slightly at that, then looks at him in curiosity, "So… How did you get that photo? Where do you think Asuna-san is?"

He glances down at her, then leans over to show her the photo from his email again, "The photo's blurry, but do you see those tree branches in the background? It's apparently at the top of something called the World Tree. Apparently there's an overall goal for the players to get there, so this one group decided to try and get there by flying up as a tower, kinda like a multistage rocket. They didn't make it, but they got screenshots and when they zoomed in on one of them, they got this image. The pics went viral pretty quickly, and it drew the attention of my friend Agil, who showed it to me."

Suguha nods absently, "Oh, yea. I heard about those five. Still not sure if it was genius to try and circumvent the World Tree's guardians that way, or the dumbest idea I've ever heard of."

Kazuto stares at his sister. As far as he knew, his sister did not play games, nor did she have any reason to visit gaming discussion boards, so she _shouldn't_ know that, much less details he didn't give her, like the fact it was five people who had made the attempt, or things _he_ didn't know, like how one is _supposed_ to get to the top of the World Tree.

His sister doesn't seem to realize what she'd said though, so as he stares at her, he responds slowly, "Suguha." She looks over at him quickly, startled by the use of her full name, "How do you know all that?"

She stares at him in confusion for a brief moment before realization sweeps over her expression, her face turning red, "I… Umm… That is…."

He narrows his eyes at her, "Nu-uh. This is open honesty time. Explanation. _Gimme_."

She turns her face away in embarrassment, "Well… For- For that first year you were trapped. I grew to despise VR games, and I was furious beyond belief when I heard about the AmuSphere, but… then I started to become curious. You seemed to love it when you were in the beta for SAO, I think it was the happiest I'd seen you in _years_ when you heard you got accepted and started playing it. So I began to grow curious, about why you loved it, why it was so amazing or appealing that they'd made another admittedly safer model, or why people would play it despite the disaster of the first."

She glances at him briefly as though checking his reaction, then quickly looks away again in embarrassment, "So I talked to mom and she got me an AmuSphere. She was remarkably ok with it, though that might have been because she'd been trying to convince me that neither the games nor the technology themselves were bad, just what Kayaba had done with them. I ended up asking a classmate of mine that I knew played games on the AmuSphere for advice on what game to pick, and he recommended ALO which had released not long before. In fact, he was so excited at the idea of me trying it, that despite the fact we'd never spoken before, he offered to meet up with me and show me around."

She sighs, "I still don't think I know why you _personally_ loved it so much, but I quickly fell in love with being able to fly around in ALO. Me and Recon met up a few more times, with us mostly just flying around and him showing me cool stuff, but… I never stopped playing, and before I knew it I was actually playing it like everyone else was. Going on raids and quests, grinding for skill levels and materials, and I found that I genuinely enjoyed it. Still do. I even competed in a melee only tournament a few months ago in the game because I _wanted_ to."

He looks at his sister in a new light for a moment, then chuckles, "That's so difficult to believe… My outgoing and athletic Imouto playing a VRMMO…"

She blushes brightly, "S-Shut up! _You're_ my still recovering and weak Onii-chan who took up kendo again after eight years, so you've no room to talk!"

He laughs lightly, then lifts a finger into the air, "Touché."

Suguha huffs, then turns serious, "That aside… I'm not sure if you can do it, Onii-chan. All nine races have thrown everything they could at the World Tree's boss room, and they've been wiped out every single time without fail over the past year since Alfheim started."

Kazuto tilts his head thoughtfully, "Really? Then… there's gotta be some key quest that needs to be completed or a key item missing? Or it's set so that one race can't get there by themselves.

Suguha smiles at him, "You really are good at video games Onii-chan. That's exactly what everyone's been thinking, so for the past month, everyone's been scrambling to find some unknown quest or dungeon. No luck with the World Tree of course, but if it's the latter, no one will ever clear it.

Kazuto glances down at her in confusion, "No one? What makes you so sure?"

Suguha tilts her head, "Well… While it's true you can fly in the game, no race can do so for more than a set amount of time. The grand quest of the game, clearing the World Tree and gaining an audience with the king of the floating city at the top, rewards the race to get there first with unlimited flight. It _only_ rewards the first race to get there though, that's explicitly stated. It would make absolutely no sense to help another race reap the reward."

Kazuto tilts his head, "Not necessarily. It would be an _enormous_ advantage to give to one race, so there's likely either a side effect of beating the grand quest to balance it out, or they plan to make a new grand quest with another race wide reward, in which case, making an alliance with the idea that one of you gets the unlimited flight and the other gets the next reward isn't such a bad idea."

Suguha looks thoughtful at that, "Hmm, I suppose that makes sense actually… I, and really everyone else in the game for that matter, have been so focused on beating the other races there and getting unlimited flight that I never really thought about what would happen next…." She continues to mull it over for a moment, then shakes her head, "That doesn't matter right now though. The point is, you can't just _go_ to the top of the World Tree, and on your own, or even with a small part, it would be impossible. _Especially_ if it's **true** that there's some key factor missing."

Kazuto shakes his head, "I don't care. I'm going anyway, and once I get there, I'll figure something out."

She stares at him, then she sighs as she picks up her phone, quickly manipulating it, then leaning over to show him a more detailed version of the map on the back of the game case, "As I'm sure you noticed on the back of the case, the World Tree and the territories of the nine races, in which you'll spawn depending on the race you choose, are separated by this mountain range. There's at least one path for each race, and no other path has ever been found, so it's entirely possible that the Butterfly, Dragon, Grootslang, Nymph, and Rainbow valleys, along with the Legrue, Myrkur, Schmied, and Singilu Corridors are the only known ways to get past the mountains." She pointed to each of the labeled places in turn as she spoke, then pointed to the Sylph territory, "As a Sylph, I've got fairly easy access to the Legrue Corridor. It'll take a couple days at least to reach the World Tree no matter which race you choose, so I'll meet you in Alne, the central city at the base of the World Tree, and help you as best I can. "

Then she sighs, pointing at the time, "All that said, I'm supposed to meet up with my hunting party really soon. And since you don't have an account, the system will run you through the tutorial, which takes a while. There's not going to be much time left once you're done with that."

Kazuto's lips twitch into a grin, then he gives a fake dramatic sniffle, "My Imouto even has a _hunting_ _party_? Oh, they grow up so fast. I'm so proud."

She blushes again and smacks him on the arm, "Shut up!"

He snickers, then pats her head briefly, "You should get going if you have to meet up with your party. I'm gonna take a bath then go do that tutorial. I worked up quite a sweat hurrying to Agil's earlier, and I'd rather not dive before I've cleaned up a bit."

Suguha nods, then starts to leave the room before pausing at the door, "Oh, I almost forgot. It'll be a few days until we can meet up in the game, but my character is a Sylph named Leafa."

Kazuto grins lightly at her, "All my teasing aside, I really am looking forward to meeting up and getting to play a VRMMO with you, despite the stakes."

She smiles warmly at him, "Me too, Onii-chan."

And with that, she hurries out of the room, leaving Kazuto to the task of actually trying to wrap his head around the idea of _Suguha_ , of all people, playing a VRMMO for over a year. He shakes his head, then stands up to go bathe. He supposed it would be difficult for him to believe until he actually met her on the other side. He was definitely looking forward to it.


	30. Down The Rabbit Hole Once More

January 20th, 2025

After his bath, Kazuto sits on his bed with his NerveGear, simply staring at it for a moment, remembering the meeting with Sugou. Then, despite being an inanimate object, he mutters to it pleadingly, "Please help me one more time. Let me be strong and save them once more."

He doesn't get a response, obviously, so he puts it on his desk for a moment to set everything up, inserting the cartridge, and hooking it up before picking it back up and putting it on. Laying down on his bed, he takes a deep breath to center himself, then closes his eyes, "Link start!"

Immediately his awareness of the real world disappears and he seems to rush down a tunnel of color, before that gives away to the sensory check screen, then language language selection.

A mere moment later he finds himself standing in a circular room, a message floating in the air before him before him for a moment, then being repeated by a disembodied female voice, "Welcome to Alfheim Online." A holographic looking keyboard appears in the air in front of him, "First enter your character name." The name choice seems fairly obvious to him, so with only a tiny bit of hesitation, he enters the name Kirito. Immediately the keyboard changes to simply be arrow keys and a 'select' button as example models of the races appear, "Now select you race. Please select one of the nine races." Kazuto scrolls through them for a moment, he was fairly certain that since the left and right arrow keys simply switched between the races, the up and down likely brought up basic descriptions of each race and what they were good at. However, he wasn't entering this game just to play it, so it didn't matter much to him. Therefore, as soon as he realized one of the races, the Spriggans, followed a black color theme that had somewhat matched his own in SAO, he selects it without hesitation. Upon clicking the select button, the Spriggan character model moved a bit smiling and shifting it's weight from a centered stance to placing most of its weight on its left foot while placing a loose fist against its right hip in a manner that Marzanna would probably dub 'Sassy', while the voice asked for confirmation, "You've selected Spriggan. Is this correct?" Clicking the ok button, then the voice asked one more question, "Your character's appearance will be decided at random. Is that alright, or would you like to pay to customize it?" After clicking the no button, the holographic looking display disappears, and the female voice gives him the last of the information, "You will now be transferred to the capital of the Spriggan territory, and run through the tutorial. Good luck."

With a tingling feeling similar to Aincrad's teleporting, Kirito disappears from the character creation room in a bright light that forces him to close his eyes. A moment letter, the ground beneath his feet disappears as his sense of gravity flips and he feels wind rush past his face. Opening his eyes, he finds himself high up and falling towards a well lit massive pyramid structure, though the fall _feels_ more like a controlled descent, so it's likely part of the introduction. He can't help but smile widely, both at the elegant structure and the thrill of being back in a game, one that he could log out of anytime he desired.

His joy is short lived though, as his descent suddenly halts, something like blue electricity sparking around him for a moment. His gaze flicks around wildly in confusion, "What?' Then a pixelated, and definitely glitchy, looking hole begins to open below him, and he stops hovering in place, though this time, he's definitely _falling_ rather than descending, and he's headed right for the glitchy hole, "What's going on?!"

For a few moments, he falls through seemingly endless darkness, then he's rather abruptly spit out of the glitchy void, only a few feet from the ground and promptly lands right on his face with a grunt of discomfort. Falling into his back, he looks up at the endless sky, dotted with floating islands, full of stars and a bright proponent full moon. There's a heavy tree canopy in his peripheral, and he begins wondering where he is since this clearing was definitely somewhere else entirely than where he's _suppose_ d to be. Though, it's undeniably beautiful, just like Aincrad had been.

He stares up at the sky, just taking in all the sounds of this world he's now in for a moment, "I'm back…" He can't help but close his eyes and smile in a slightly disbelieving manner, "After everything that happened." He stays there for a moment, then opens his eyes and quickly does a kick-up. As soon as he's standing, he begins to look around, the moonlit forest was admittedly gorgeous, but Kirito had already given enough time to simply appreciate this world, considering what's on the line, so he ignores that in favour of looking around, "Now, where exactly am I?"

Deciding the map could probably tell him, he ties to open it, but nothing happens. Frowning, he tries a couple more time, though it produces the same results. He's about to start panicking before he's reminded of another time he'd seen someone unable to access a menu, namely Yui.

Hesitating for only a moment, he ties with his left hand, and is immediately reassured by the menu opening. Shaken by the constant reminder of Aincrad since appearing, he ignores the basic character read out entirely and immediately opens the settings tab, then breaths a sigh of relief at the logout button being present, clicking it just to make sure it works, "It's here!"

Staring at the pop up asking him if he's sure he'd like to log out, he sighs again in relief, then clicks the 'x' for no. Now reassured, he finally looks at the menu in general. The various tabs look almost the same as they had in SAO, but that doesn't mean they were organized exactly as he's used to, but it's when he turns his gaze to the general character info default that he's utterly taken by surprise.

Though it should be blank except for basic starting skills, like one handed sword, there are twelve full slots. In the limited space of the general info screen, the names of those skills weren't written, rather, they were marked with unique but simplistic icons, such as a simple straight sword for that skill, a curved sword for that weapon types skill, or a fist for the martial arts skill, other than that there was simply a level and an exp bar for each skill.

His menu showed seven completed skills, three high level skills, two mid level skill, one that was a line of glitched out text, and an empty slot, "What?... Skill window. I need..."

Clicking the equip tab, then the skills tab, he's immediately presented with a skill menu that instantly makes his breath leave him in a rush. There, before him, were all of his skills from Aincrad with the exact same levels and everything, except for his Dual Wield, which likely didn't appear in this game. Clicking the items tab, he's assaulted by a screen almost entirely full of wonky text, barring the starting gear he's wearing.

For a moment he simply stares at it, dumbstruck, then he remembers the single _most important_ item that had been in his and Hanna's joint inventory, and begins frantically scrolling through the wall of glitched out text boxes, "Please be here…"

Then, there before him, the only other item the system seems to recognize, named clear as day, MHCP001. However when he materializes it, it's not the tiny bright ice blue crystal he'd gotten used to seeing around Hanna's neck in those last few days in that world. While still tear drop shaped it was larger and was a mix of dark blue, light blue, and purple. Not to mention, rather than falling into his hand, it hovered about six inches above it. Unsure what's going on with it, he tries clicking. There's a cheerful little jingle as bright blue light explodes from it before turning into a ball of light that slowly floats up and dims.

As the light slowly fades away Yui is revealed, she's curled in on herself slightly, and her eyes are closed, but after a moment they slowly drift halfway open, then they snap fully open as she lets out a noise of surprised confusion.

Kirito approaches the still floating girl, then stops when he remembers he doesn't look the same anymore, "Yui, it's me. It's Kirito. Do you remember me?"

She stares at him with wide eyes for a moment, then they tear up as she smiles, "I got to see you again, Papa!"

He smiles at her warmly, "Yui…"

Yui reaches her arms towards him as she begins to drift down, without hesitation he takes the few steps needed to be able to catch her. She happily latches onto him with surprising strength, but he holds her just as tight if not more so, "I guess miracles really do happen."

Neither are anywhere near willing to let go, so Kirito carries her over to a massive tree root arching over a river with a view of what had to be the world tree in the distance, and sits on the edge with Yui in his lap. For a while, he just happily holds her while she latches onto him. It takes about five minutes before they're ready to separate, and even then, Yui remains seated on one of his legs, "So, I don't suppose you know what's going on here?" Yui looks up at him in confusion, and he finally remembers that she didn't know about anything that had happened since Cardinal tried to delete her, "We aren't inside SAO. It's another game called Alfheim Online."

Yui brings her hands up, lightly touching her temples as she closes her eyes, "Hold on a second. This world is based off a copy of the Sword Art Online servers."

Her eyes halfway open to gaze at him as she delivers this information, and Kirito tilts his head at her, "A copy?"

Yui nods, "Yes. The engine, programming, and the graphics format are identical, but the version of the Cardinal system is a little outdated."

Kirito's gaze drifts away and he presses his curled index finger to his chin in thought, "RCT took over operations after Argus, the company that originally made SAO, went bankrupt. In other words, RCT took Argus's programs and is using them." Then he lowers his hand and refocuses on Yui, "But why is my personal data here?"

Yui tilts her head, "Let me have a look at your data, papa." She closes her eyes again, "This is definitely your character data from SAO. The save data format in nearly identical, so any skills common to both games had their levels overwritten."

Kazuto nods in understanding, "That explains why my dual wielding, and only my dual wielding, is gone. If they copied SAO's servers with the intention of making a game of their own, it makes much more sense to keep the majority of it's massive skill list and only delete, change, or add skills as necessary to fit with this game."

Yui nods and moves off of his lap, sitting next to him to give him some space, "Your items appear to be lost as well, the only thing that seems to have survived is your money, and that's because other than renaming it to Yuld, it's got the exact same programming. You should delete them before the error detection program finds them."

Kirito sighs, "I see. That's a shame… Deleting all that stuff, most tied to some of my best memories.."

Then he shakes his head and opens his menu again. Navigating to the item menu, he clicks the select all button, then clicks delete. A pop up asking if he wants to delete the items, a small security measure against the chance of players accidentally clicking the delete button.

He hesitates quite a bit before clicking the circle signifying yes, then slumps in defeat as he let's out a sigh. After a moment, he turns to Yui, "Now, what about my skill levels?"

Yui shakes her head, "From the systems point of view, there's nothing strange except for your dual wielding, which it will flag as a mere glitch. The reason you had to get rid of the items is that having so many would've caused the system to flag you which would've gotten a GM to look into it. That would've been bad, because while your skills aren't unusual to the system, when comparing them to your play time…" She shakes her head briefly, "Well, anyway, your skills shouldn't be a problem unless an actual human game master sees them, and there's no reason for that too happen since you deleted your items."

Kirito let's out another sigh, this one of relief, having those skills would help a lot when it comes to his task after all, "Okay. That's nice to know." Then he looks down with a small smile as the irony strikes him, "I've gone from a Beater to a Cheater." Then he turns his gaze back to his daughter as an alarming idea strikes him, "How is the system treating you, Yui? It's not going to try and delete you as a foreign object, is it?"

Yui closes her eyes in a gesture that's rapidly growing familiar as she checks data, "Let's see… No, they must have recycled a fair bit of my programming, as the system is recognizing me as a player support artificial personality program, called a Navigation Pixie."

She suddenly begins to glow brightly, and Kirito recoils from the harsh light with a panicked cry, "Yui?!"

When is clears, Yui is perfectly fine, but she's changed from her plain white dress to an adorable little pink dress designed to look like it's been made from flower petals, with matching gloves going from just below her shoulder to her wrist, a necklace that looked like the detached lapel of a shirt, an anklet on each leg, a tiny blue flower in her hair, her ears had become pointed, and pale pink nearly see through wings extending from her back that also resemble flower petals, though they're longer and more delicate looking than the segments of the bottom of her dress.

The biggest change though, was the fact that she was now only ten centimetres tall. She smiles at him as she strikes an adorable little pose while hovering in front of him, "This is my form as a Pixie."

He stares at her with wide eyes, "Woah."

Then he pokes her adorable little cheek. She doesn't quite pull away or try to push his finger away, but she does giggle a little, "Stop, that tickles."

With a small chuckle he pulls his finger away. "Then do you still have admin privileges like before?"

Yui shakes her head, "No. All I can do is access the reference and wide-area map databases."

Kirito nods as him smile slips away, "I see. That's a shame, it would've been rather useful. You see, it seems Hanna… Your mama is here."

Yui gives him a confused look, "Mama?" She moves over to land on his shoulder, "What do you mean?"

Kirito sighs, "Even after SAO was cleared, Hanna, and our friend Asuna, never woke up in the real world. I heard about someone who saw her here, in Alfheim. So, even if it's a long shot, I came here to see for myself, and save them if necessary."

Yui slumps sadly, "So that's what happened… I'm sorry papa, if I had my admin privileges still…"

Kirito gives her a reassuring smile, "It's alright, there's no need to blame yourself. Besides I have a good idea of where to look. It's called the World Tree." He points to the massive thing in the distance, "I'm pretty sure that's it right there, but I haven't been here that long, as you likely saw from my play time earlier."

Yui turns her gaze to it as she sits on his shoulder, "Mama is over there?"

For a moment, the two of them simply sit there, staring at the massive tree quite a bit away. Then, something occurs to Kirito, "Actually, why did I end up at this forest? I was supposed to be warped to the Spriggan capital…"

Yui tilts her head, "I don't know. Maybe you location data got corrupted? Or something got confused? With the way your save data was clashing with your data as a brand new player, the system would've been trying to resolve it. I think that the most likely scenario was that someone rather close by was diving as well, and while trying to resolve the issue with the clashing data, the system confused your location data with theirs and transferred you to nearby."

Kirito tilts his head at her, "Nearby… Like say, diving in the same house on the same internet connection?"

Yui nods, "Yes, diving on the same internet connection with your clashing data would be more than sufficient."

He nods firmly as he stands up, then he turns to Yui, "How do I fly?"

Yui tilts her head, a thoughtful expression on her face for a moment, "There's an assist controller. Raise your left hand as if you're grabbing something." She mimics the motion herself as she explains, so he fill copies her without hesitation. Immediately a controller materializes in his hand and there's a tingling sensation on his back. Turning to look he observes the black wings for a moment, then looks back to Yui. Once he has it, Yui continues her explanation, "Pull it towards yourself to elevate, push to descend, and move it left or right to turn."

He pulls it towards him experimentally, raising quickly before he adjusts the controller, and comes to a stop, hovering in mid air. Yui flies after him, hovering in front of him again with a smile, though she does put a bit of distance between them for him to move around while he's learning to control his flight, "Hold down the button to accelerate. Release to decelerate." He pushes the button, and starts flying around, though the movements are rather jerky due to his inexperience. Yui turns on the spot to follow his flight, "You can fly as long as your wings are shining. After ten minutes, you need to let them rest."

He flies around a bit more, quickly getting the hang of it enough to fly in mostly smooth loops as he laughs lightly. Then he lowers himself down to hover in front if Yui again with a smile, "I see. I think I've got it. Now, can you tell if there are any players nearby?"

She tilts her head in confusion, but nods and briefly gets that thoughtful look again, "Yes. Seven players are that way."

She points off in a seemingly random direction, and he nods his understating as he turns to face that way, "Can you tell if any of them are a female Sylph named Leafa?'

She flies over to hover near his face, "Yes. Do you know her?"

He smiles at her, "Yes. You know how I asked about me diving on the same internet connection? Leafa is my Imouto in the real world. She's diving as well." Then he tilts his head at her, "I suppose that makes her your aunt."

She gives him an excited smile, "Really?! I have an aunt?!"

He laughs lightly, "Yup. You've also got two maternal uncles, though they're not here. Ready to go meet her?"

Yui beams as she nods rapidly, then her expression becomes worried, "We'd better hurry though. Five of those other players appear to be fighting Aunt Leafa and someone with her. You'll have to carry me though, I can't fly as fast as papa."

Scooping her up, he gently slips her into his breast pocket, "In that case, we've no time to lose."

He takes off in the direction Yui had pointed as fast as he can. Yui adjusts his course as they fly, and keeps him updated as best she can with what little data she has access to, "Aunt Leafa just killed one of the attacking players… So did the player with her, he- Oh, he just died as well. It's just Aunt Leafa and her remaining three attackers now…"

At this point, he can see bursts of flames coming from the forest and just barely make out the two other enemies rushing his sister. Distracted by them, she gets hit with one of the streams of fire and falls down into the forest, the other three following after her immediately. He's still about a minute away though, and hopes that she can hold her own that long.

* * *

Leafa pants heavily as she stares her three enemies down. The middle one, who seems to be in charge, tries to 'reason' with her, "Sorry, but we're on a mission. Leave your money and items, and we'll let you go."

The one on the left turns his head to look at the leader, "Why are you being a gentleman, Kagemune?"

The other one nods, "It's been ages since we fought a woman. Let's kill her!"

Leafa clenches her teeth in fury at that. There were unfortunately quite a few of these types of players in the game. Males who delighted in killing female players, they were by far not the majority, but there were still far too many for Leafa's liking.

She shifts her grip on her sword from one handed to two, "I'll take at least one of you with me." Then she lifts her weapon above her head, "Anyone who doesn't fear the death penalty can come and get me!"

Kagemune sighs, "You're a strong-willed girl. Very well."

The three Salamanders drift back and spread out as they ready their weapons. She stares them down, waiting to see which would move first even if only by a few seconds. That one would get to her first, and she'd be damned if she didn't take them with her. They tensely stare each other down for almost half a minute, then suddenly a loud startled cry sounds, dragging both her and the Salamanders shocked attention to the player that suddenly falls on his face a couple metres away.

He says vertical for a moment, then his body falls into a kneeling position, and he starts rubbing at his head, "Gonna have to work on landing…"

Leafa stares at him in shock, from his incredibly basic gear, it was rather obvious he was new to the game, however the more shocking thing was that he was a _Spriggan_ , whose territory was literally on the opposite side of the map. The player slowly climbs to his feet, releasing his controller and letting it disappear.

He rubs his head again as he stares at them all, completely relaxed. If he was so new to this game and had still made it all the way here, he had probably gotten extremely lucky and not run into any player hunting parties. If that was the case, Leafa didn't want him to have to confront the truth just yet, but rather be able to enjoy it with blissful ignorance as long as possible.

That was probably why she sounded to angry when she snapped at him, "What are you doing? Run!"

He ignores her words though, to stare the Salamanders down, "Three tanky fighters attacking a single girl? That's kind of lame."

The Salamanders, predictably, grow angry, although Kagemune doesn't seem fazed. The one of the right tightening his grip on his weapon, "What did you say?!"

The one on the left lifts his weapon threatening, "Stay out of this, newbie."

The Spriggan simply smirks at them, so they both drift into ready stances to attack him, the one that had been on the right growling, "Then we'll fight you too!"

He immediately rushes the player after speaking, his friend waiting a beat before rushing as well so as to get him if he dodges. It was a rather basic tactic, but it was more than the newbie would be able to handle, and Leafa is about to look away, not wanting to see the naive player get killed, but just before she does something remarkable happens.

Rather than dodge, the player casually lifts his left hand and catches the Salamander's weapon, stopping both it and him dead in their tracks. Then he pushes on the weapon, throwing him into the second Salamander, knocking then both to the ground.

The player looks at her, the nods at the Salamanders, "Um… Do you mind if I kill them?"

Leafa stares at him unsurely, no matter how she looked, he still appeared to be a newbie, but… She lowers her weapon a bit, "N-No. They're all yours."

By now the Salamanders had climbed to their feet, and the one that had attacked him first all but hisses at him, "Self-righteous little-"

The player casually cuts him off as he turns to glare at the two Salamanders, "First of all, I don't think that's the word you were looking for. Secondly, that's not what I am. What I _am_ , is a pissed off older brother. You see, not even twenty minutes ago, my player location data got corrupted and confused with the player data of someone diving in the same house as me." Leafa gasps lightly as she realizes who exactly the player was. That was her _Onii-chan_! That only makes her more confused about his display though, because she _**knows**_ he _just_ started the game. He smiles at her briefly before returning his glare to the Salamanders, "So not _only_ did I fall through a glitchy void to nearby, and fall right on my _face_ mind you, but **then** I come across my Imouto being ganged up on by some tanks only to fall on my face _**again**_. I. Am. Not. Happy." He draws his sword, letting it hang loosely towards the ground, "Now, shut up and _try_ to die with some dignity."

He takes a step forward, then completely disappears. The Salamander in the back has just enough time to look around and mutter, "He's gone?"

Then the effects of the attack catch up, and the Salamander bursts into the tell tale «End Flames» indicating death, leaving behind nothing but a Remain Light. Her eyes shift past him to her brother as he slowly straightens. Even _**she**_ hadn't seen him move, but that was to be expected. The only thing that controls speed in ALO are buffs and how fast your brain can process the signals going between it and the NerveGear. Part of it was innate reflexes, but a player would improve as they played. Her Onii-chan already had incredible reflexes, but he'd also been stuck in SAO for two years straight. She had no doubt that because of that alone, her Onii-chan was the fastest player in ALO.

Then her Onii-chan turns and smirks at the other Salamander just as he turns to face her Onii-chan, "You're next." The Salamander takes a step back, but that one step won't help him in the slightest. As she sees her Onii-chan lower his center of gravity slightly, she knows he's about to attack again and focuses as hard as she can, determined to at least _see_ her Onii-chan's attack this time. She just barely manages to catch the initial burst of movement when he kicks off into what's almost a glide. Placing his other foot down only to launch himself into a jumping attack as his sword comes up, cleanly cleaving the player in half in a slight diagonal manner just above guys waist.

Landing between her and the remaining enemy, her Onii-chan slowly straightens, grinning at her, "Well. I feel a lot better." Then he casually turns around, his gaze lazily shifting to Kagemune, "Well? You want to fight too?"

Kagemune shakes his head, "I'll pass. My magic skill will reach level 900 soon. I'd rather not incur a death penalty."

Her Onii-chan chuckles lightly, "Well, it seems _one_ of you has a brain at least. I was honest beginning to wonder how those two were diving since they seemed to be lacking key equipment." Kagemune snorts in amusement, and Onii-chan glances at her, clearly making sure she's alright with this. She nods as she sheathed her weapon, so her Onii-chan turns back to Kagemune, "Well then I guess you get to leave."

Kagemune seems surprised that they're actually letting him go, but nods, "In that case, I suppose I owe you a bit."

Kirito watches as the remaining Salamander takes off without another word. Probably worried that they'll change their minds. Once he's gone, Kirito turns to his sister with curiosity as he points at the flames the two dead Salamanders had left behind, "Hey, what are these flames?"

She presses her finger to her lips as she walks over to him, "Shh!... They're Remain Lights. Their minds are still there." They wait quietly after that, but a moment later the two lights fade, "Must've chosen to respawn when they realized they wouldn't hear anything of interest…" Then she turns to him with a curious look, "So… Your location data really got corrupted?"

Kirito nods, "Yea, it… wasn't a pleasant experience."

Yui begins to shift, then flies out of his pocket, "For all that it's surprisingly comfortable in Papa's pocket, I'd rather come out if the fighting is over."

Leafa stares at it in shock, "Onii-chan, how do you have a Private Pixie? And _why_ does it call you _papa_?"

He holds up a finger, "First of all, she's not an 'it' she's a _she_ , her name is Yui by the way, second of all, well, it's complicated and probably take a bit to explain.. "

Leafa raises an eyebrow, "I need to let me wings recharge anyway, and that's going to take a bit, seeing as they're fully depleted."

* * *

Kirito glances down at Yui, then takes a deep breath and starts explaining. As he goes on, his sister grows more and more incredulous, but she also doesn't deny what he's says. Finally he ends his kinda long story, "... So then I realized that my items would probably still be the same as well and scrolled through to see if she was still in there. Sure enough she was, although when I materialized her item her crystal looked a bit different and when I touched it it exploded with light and she appeared. After we talked a bit she told me the system recognizes her as a Navigation Pixie and changed to look like this."

Yui, now happily sitting on his shoulder tilts her head to look at him, "When players first get navigation Pixies they appear as an item in their inventory to be activated at their leisure, so that's what that was. And technically speaking, Navigation Pixies are just stripped down copies of my programming, so of course the system recognizes me." Then she turns to the dumbstruck Leafa, smiling hopefully as she flies off his shoulder to hover in front of her, "Papa says that you're my auntie. Are you really my auntie?"

His sister opens and closes her mouth a few times, unsure what to say, and Yui takes her hesitation as a negative, slumping sadly. Leafa, not being immune to his daughters cuteness as _no one_ is, immediately starts waving her hands in front of her in panic, "No, no! You misunderstand! I was just shocked by Onii-chan's story! Of course I'm your aunt!"

Yui immediately perks back up, beaming happily at her, then with a flash of white light, she shifts back into her larger form and throws her arms around Leafa in a hug, "Auntie Leafa!"

Leafa grows flustered at the blatant affection from his daughter and hesitantly returns the hug, but he simply chuckles. At the sound Leafa looks up at him and flushes then turns her head away in embarrassment, "Well, my wings are recharged already, so we, ah, we should get going. There's a neutral village to the north. It's a bit far, but let's fly there."

Yui steps back a bit and returns to her Pixie form, "But Sylvein is a lot closer Aunt Leafa."

Leafa nods, "Yes, but that's Sylph territory. You're not exactly expressly forbidden from going there, but you can't attack someone in their own territory towns whereas they _can_ attack you. You can't even defend yourself."

Kirito grins confidently, "They wouldn't just start attacking for no reason. And I've got you with me Leafa."

Leafa sighs, but she's smiling slightly, "Alright then. We'll go to Sylvein. Anyway, let's get going."

Then she turns to go and her wings appear, to Kirito's shock, they move entirely on their own, "You can fly without an assist controller?"

She turns her head to look at him, "Ah… Right. There's a trick to flying on your own. Here, turn around and don't use your controller." He does she says, and hears her approach before she places her hand a bit above his shoulder blades, "You can feel where I'm touching right?" He nods, so she continues, "Imagine virtual bones and muscles growing from here, then try to move them."

He concentrates, "Virtual bone and muscles…"

It takes a moment, but then he feels them appear and switches his focus to moving them. They begin to twitch within seconds, and his sister actually sounds impressed, "Like that! Just like that. Try the same movement again, but stronger."

He stops trying to move them for a moment to take a deep breath and clear his mind of the wayward thoughts drifting through it. He was sure that if he could just do it correctly once, he could repeat the process easily, so with even more determination, he tries again. After a moment, his sister suddenly shoves him. Kirito, having just been starting to get his wings moving right, shoots off with a shout through the treetops like a bullet, though thankfully Yui had fallen off his shoulder as soon as he was shoved and didn't go violently through the branches and leaves with him.

Thankfully once he's clear off the trees, he no longer has to worry about flying into something despite having zero control over himself. After a moment, he sees Leafa and Yui raise up above the treetops with worried looks, both of them shouting for him as they look around.

Seeing as he's being dragged through the air around wildly with no control, he shouts at Leafa, "Make it stop!"

The two stare at him for a moment, share a look, then burst into laughter, "I'm sorry papa! That's hilarious…"

It takes a while for Leafa to calm enough to dart in and grab him by the collar and teach him how to actually _control_ his flight. She does apologize for it, explaining that when teaching someone to fly voluntarily, you usually gave them a push when the thrust in their wings was sufficient so they could get a feel for what it was like to take off, though _usually_ the result was just them hovering a bit. Him shooting off like that… it wasn't supposed to happen.

By the time she's finished her ten minute lecture, he's got total control over his flight and he can't help but laugh happily, "This is amazing!"

Leafa laughs as well from where she's hovering with Yui nearby, "I know, right?! You've got good instincts Onii-chan." Then she turns and begins flying away, "Now follow me. You'll wanna go slow at first."

She turns to him turns to him with a smile, but he just smirks at her, "We can go faster."

She stares at him, then turns back with a smile, and takes off. He catches up quickly, and after a moment she turns with a slight smirk, only to grow shocked when she realizes he's following her easily. He smirks again, "Is this the fastest we can go?"

She frowns at him as she turns forward again, "Don't blame me for whatever happens."

She takes off even faster, and he hurries to catch up. After a moment, Yui begins to struggle to keep up, "I can't go on…"

Without another word, she dives into his pocket, then shifts around to poke her head out. Kirito turns to to Leafa next to him, and they both laugh. Leafa smiles at him, "You're the only person who's ever managed to keep with me, Onii-chan."

He smiles at her, then turns his gaze forward as he notices a green glow in front of them. His eyes widen at the site of the beautiful city, "Is that Sylvein?"

Leafa nods happily, "Yea, it's gorgeous, isn't it?" He nods, and shares a smile with his sister, "We'll land at the base of the central tower." After a moment though, her smile disappears as she seems to realize something, "Onii-chan, do you know how to land?"

He stares at her blankly for a moment, then turns back to the rapidly approaching tower in shock, "I don't!"

His sister grows flustered, "Um… Sorry! It's too late." Then she smiles awkwardly at him, "Good luck!"

With that she drops away to land, and he stares after her incredulously for a second, "Y-You're kidding me!" He turns back to the tower just in time to smash into it. After he's fallen to the ground, his sister hurries over and crouches near him, still smiling awkwardly, and he huffs at her, "That was horrible, Leafa. Couldn't you have just grabbed the back of my collar again?" Then he sighs, "That's the third time I've rammed into something with my _face_ today…"

She chuckles lightly, "It's okay. I'll heal you."

Then she straightens her posture and gains a look of concentration as she holds her hand out in front of her. As she begins chanting, circles of words spin around her slowly, a word snapping into place as the rest in its line disappear with each word she says.

As she finishes, a greenish glow surrounds him briefly, refilling his damaged health bar, "Wow, so this is magic?"

She smiles at him through the glow, "Undines are the best at healing magic, but it's a really important spell, so you should learn it too."

He nods as he sits up, "Right, because different races get different bonuses. I, uh, I didn't actually bother checking the race descriptions as I wasn't joining to play seriously. I kinda just picked this one because I liked how Spriggans look…"

His sister sighs, "That explains it then. I was wondering why you chose a Spriggan of all things…"

He frowns at her, "What's wrong with Spriggans?"

His sister shakes her head, "There's nothing _wrong_ with them per say, it's just… While they're one of the only two races with natural night vision, the only things they're particularly good at are treasure hunting and illusion magic. Neither of those is really any good for battle."

Kirito sighs, then shakes his head, "Doesn't really matter I suppose…" After leaning back and doing a kick-up, he stretches a bit as he looks around, "So this is a Sylph town? It really is pretty…"

She smiles at him and nods, and they both just observe the town for a minute. Then a voice calls out from behind them, "Leafa-chan!' Turning with his sister, Kirito see a short green haired Sylph male running up to them, waving at Leafa, "You're ok!"

He stops in front of her bending over to place his hands on his knees while he tries to catch his breath, which was of course, simply reflexive. His sister crosses her arms as she greets him, "Oh, Recon."

Even though he's still panting, the boy still forces out, "You're great, Leafa-chan." Then he seems to notice Kirito, "A Spriggan?!"

Jumping back a couple steps, he places his hand on the dagger resting horizontally on his back defensively, but his sister simply smiles and raises a hand in a stopping gesture, "It's ok. He saved me." That seems to shock the Recon, who clearly thought his sister had gotten out of that situation on her own, but his sister ignores him and turns to him, gesturing to the boy, "This is Recon, my friend from school I told you about."

Kirito extends his hand to Recon, "Hi, I'm Kirito."

Recon rubs at his head in an awkward manner as he removes his hand from his dagger, extending it to shake Kirito's hand, "Nice to meet you." Before he's even done more than grabbed Kirito's hand though, he yanks his hands away and jumps back and grabs his dagger again, "No… No, no, no! Are you sure about this?" He turns to Leafa, "He isn't a spy or anything, is he?"

Leafa glares at Recon, "Don't be stupid. I was trying to avoid saying anything private in a public place like this, but he's my brother you dolt. My _IRL_ brother. I told you about him before, remember? About SAO?"

Recon's eyes widen and he quickly let's go of his dagger, "Oh! I- I'm sorry! Err… How did he…"

Understanding what he was asking, Kirito sighs, "My character glitched out a bit and in the confusion my location data got confused with Leafa's…"

Recon relaxes, "Oh, I see." Then he shakes his head and turns to Leafa, "Sigurd and the rest saved you a seat at the usual tavern."

Leafa shakes her head, "I'm not going." Recon looks at her like a kicked puppy, causing her to sigh, "I told you guys that I'd be leaving the party after today to meet up with someone. Well, that was... " She glances at him, "Err, you said you're character name was Kirito, right? I should probably get used to using that here…" She shakes her head of the wayward thoughts, "Anyway, I was supposed to be meeting up with him in Arun to help him out with something, but since he's here, I'll be leaving the party now."

Recon slumps slightly, "Oh. Ok…. But! Once you've helped him you'll come back, right?"

Leafa shrugs, "Maybe. I don't know. Sigurd is… not very likable… Anyway, I'll see you later!"

With that, she grabs his hand and starts pulling him away, ignoring Recon's pitiful whine of her name. They only get a few streets over before Kirito tugs her to a stop, "Is there a good equipment shop in town? I really need to replace this beginner stuff…"

His sister turns to him, frowning slightly, "There is, but Onii-ch-, err Kirito, that stuff will be expensive…"

He smiles at her, "Leafa, you don't have to correct yourself like that. Onii-chan is fine."

She looks at him unsurely, "But it's rude to mention things about someone's real life…"

He pats her head, "It's fine. I really don't mind. As for equipment…" He leans over and lowers his voice to a whisper, "I told you when I was explaining Yui that my save from SAO tried to load and I had to delete everything. I did however, get to keep my money because other than renaming it, it's exactly the same from SAO. Yui says the automatic error correction would've thought the name thing was a glitch and fixed it. Normally I wouldn't cheat like this, but… I don't really have the time to get that honestly."

Leafa nods in understanding, "Are you sure it'll be enough though. The better equipment… It can get kinda ridiculous when you take into account that they don't even have any special effects, seeing as you can only get weapons like that from drops and quests…"

Kirito hums in thought, "Well, it was a hefty sum _there_. Here… The programming may be the same, but it doesn't mean the value of that currency matches up…. Look, just take me to the best place in town for gear, and if I can't afford it we'll just slowly make our way down."

His sister glances at him, then nods, "Alright then, follow me."

She quickly leads him to a nice looking shop, and he looks around curiously as they enter before sighing, "All green…"

Leafa gives him a bemused look, "It's not just starting gear that matches the color scheme of your race. Anything you equip does it automatically. This stuff is just all _shown_ as green because we're in Sylph territory. If you entered a shop with the exact same items in Spriggan territory, it'd all be black."

He perks up at that, starts to take a step towards the NPC behind the counter before pausing, "In SAO you could manually bring an item up or just initiate a buy menu by asking the NPC to see their wares, is that the same, or…"

Leafa nods, so he hurries over to the NPC, quickly initiating the buy menu. He raises an eyebrow when it pops up. For this to be the best shop in the capital, it's equipment seemed kinda cheap considering the stats on some of it. At least, in comparison to SAO gear. He quickly goes through the gear, purchasing everything he needs and selecting the 'equip now' option for each piece of equipment he purchases, all while leaving his coat and sword for last, both of which were choices he took incredibly seriously. It wouldn't do for the Black Swordsman to not have a damn good coat after all.

However, he's distracted after purchasing his throwing picks by his sister, "Eh? Onii-chan, why would you get those? Magic is vastly superior."

He glances back at her, "Well, yea, I figured they weren't as good as magic, but…" He sighs, glancing around to make sure the shop is empty, he quickly opens his menu and skill tab, then makes it viewable as he waves her closer. He points at his skills, "Look my throwing weapon skill is almost maxed out, not to mention I'm used to it, whereas I've never used magic."

His sister nods in a distracted manner, her eyes wide in astonishment, "O-Onii-chan… Are- Are these really your skill levels from there? How… It was so dangerous in there…"

He shrugs, "That only made it all the more important to level myself and them up."

She nods slowly, still transfixed by his skills, then points with a slightly shaky hand at the one line of gibberish amongst his skills, "What's that supposed to be?"

He sighs, "It's _supposed_ to be my Dual Wielding, but this game doesn't have that skill in the system."

She looks up at him and tilts her head, "Well, that's because anyone can equip two primary weapons if they want. It's just that most players barely have the skill to handle one weapon, much less two…"

Kirito glances at her, "Really?" She nods, and he can't help but grin, "Fantastic."

Closing his menu, he returns to the NPC. Having only needed a few more things after the throwing picks, he turns to the serious task ahead of him, "Now Leafa. What I'm about to do is the single most important task of selecting my gear. I shall need all of my concentration, so please remain silent for a moment."

His sister gives a hesitant nod, "O-Ok… I didn't realize you took selecting a sword so seriously…"

He holds up a hand, "Sh!"

There's a tense silence in the shop for ten minutes as he carefully looks over the selection and debates before he finally makes his choice. He sighs as he purchases and equips it, "It's not the _best_ , but I suppose it's the best you _peasants_ have to offer "

The item apparently takes his sister off guard as she gapes at him, " **Eh?!** Onii-chan, that's a coat! I thought you were debating which sword to pick! That isn't a something worth any more serious thought than it's stats!"

He turns to her with a grave expression, "Leafa… In SAO, I was nicknamed The Black Swordsman. Do you know why I was nicknamed The Black Swordsman?" His sister shakes her head hesitantly, "I was called the Black Swordsman for two reasons, and two reasons alone… One, because I was in the top three strongest players in the game." She leans forward, hanging onto his words with wide eyes, "The second, and in my opinion far more important reason… was because of my badass black coats." She slumps, giving him an incredulous look, but he simply turns back to the shop menu, "It doesn't matter if these people have never heard of the Black Swordsman, it wouldn't do for me to wear a sub par coat. Just give me another minute to look over the swords and I'll be done."

His sister sighs, "Onii-chan…. You're ridiculous, you know that?"

He huffs, "Blasphemy. Without Elucidator, my choice of coat becomes the single most important decision I need to make in regards to my gear."

His sister gives him a look like she's not quite sure she actually wants to ask, "Ok, I'll bite. What's Elucidator?"

He turns to her slowly, "Elucidator is _the_ single most beautiful, amazing, and badass sword of all time. I truly feel sorry for you, for you shall never be so lucky as to see it."

Then he whirls back around, and he can _feel_ the incredulously exasperated look. Yui flies out of his pocket and sits on his shoulder facing Leafa, "Papa is mostly joking. While he _did_ love both his coat and his swords, _especially_ Elucidator, he's mostly just messing with you."

His sister sighs in relief, "Oh good. For a minute there I was worried he was serious."

Yui giggles, and it only takes a few seconds for Leafa to join in. He shoots her an amused smile over his shoulder then returns to looking over the swords for a minute before sighing, "Why are all of these so _**light**_? The only sword even close to my preferred sword weight is way to large to comfortably use with two swords. Hell, from this info read out, it's almost as tall as me!"

Yui and Leafa giggle, and his sister grins at him, "Even if it was good for Dual Wielding, it wouldn't be a very good choice. You'd look ridiculous with it. And this is a Sylph town, our race is known for its wind magic and speed, it only makes sense for the majority of the gear to be light and fast."

Kirito sighs, "I know. It's still annoying…" Eventually he settles on two one handed straight swords that are the size he's used to, if not the weight. Equipping them, he draws them for a few experimental swings, then sighs as he stares at them, "So light…"

Leafa tilts her head, "I can understand being worried about putting yourself off balance because you're used to swinging something heavier, but… That doesn't seem to be that case, so I really don't see why it's so important for them to be heavy."

Kirito slowly sheaths the swords, "Well, I suppose it's really not, but… ever since I got used to the heaviness of my usual type of sword in Aincrad, anything that's too light just feels… flimsy and unreliable. Like it's a made of glass or just a toy…"

His sister tilts her head at him, then shrugs, "Well, anyway. Let's hurry up and buy everything else we'll need for the journey."

He follows after as they stop by a few more shops, while Leafa picks up a few things, though the only really items he himself buys are health and mana potions, just in case, and a few random things that seem interesting.

Eventually his sister seems to run through a mental check list, then nods firmly, "Well, that's everything we'll need for the journey. Come on, I'll take you to an inn."

He looks at her with mild confusion as they walk, "An inn? Why?"

She glances back at him, "Players can only safely log out in either towns in their territory, or inns. While you _can_ log out somewhere else, your avatar won't disappear for thirty minutes and can still be interacted with. So if you log out in any place _besides_ a town in your territory or an inn, you basically leave your character completely vulnerable to attack and theft."

Kirito sighs, "I see… Well, that's nice to know at least."

It's not long before his sister leads him to an inn and pub called Lily of the Valley Pavilion. She points at it, "Just go in there and ask the NPC to rent a room. Once you have one, you'll be able to safely log out inside it. Got it?"

He nods, "Yup. Rent a room, log out in room. I do have a brain you know."

She blushes, "Sorry, I didn't mean… I just wanted to make sure you didn't misunderstand anything I said. Anyway! I'm logging out. See you on the other side Onii-chan. I need to take a bath, then make dinner since it's my turn and you're probably already hungry again despite those sandwiches earlier…"

He grins at her sheepishly, then watches her log out before heading inside to do the same. Though he could logout immediately once he was in his room, logging out while standing up could cause the feeling of vertigo. It wasn't a huge issue, though most players, both back in the beta test and now from his understanding, preferred to simply fall asleep, which along with automatically logging the player out, also made the transition back to reality smoother. Since he prefers that method of logging out, he simply unequips his swords and climbs into bed.

Yui flies over and switches back into her full sized form standing next to his bed with a slight sad smile, "This is goodbye until tomorrow. Right, Papa?"

He smiles at her, "I'll be back soon to see you again."

She smiles happily at him, then gains an unsure look, "Um. Players will be automatically logged out if they fall asleep in an inn, so… Can I sleep next to you until you log out?"

That startles him, but he smiles at her again, "Yea, sure."

He scoots over to make room for her, and touches the wall next to the bed to bring up a basic room menu to extinguish the lamps, then smiles warmly at Yui as she snuggles in, "Let's save Hanna and buy a house somewhere again, okay?"

She smiles happily, "It sounds like a dream, getting to live with Papa and Mama again."

He gently brushes her bands from her face, "It isn't a dream. We'll save your mama and make it reality soon."

She beams at him and for a moment they just lay there, then he quickly drifts off.

* * *

January 21st, 2025

Logging in, Kirito is mildly surprised to find himself in the bar rather than his room, but shakes it off as Leafa logs in. This morning he and his sister had decided to log on at three as the kendo club adviser had asked her to go down to the school, but she'd gotten home earlier than expected, so they'd logged in at two instead.

His sister smiles at him, then launches right into the thick of things without any small talk, which made sense seeing as they lived together and made small talk on a daily basis, "Ready to head out?"

He nods, then looks around a bit before thinking to look in his pocket. Yui, sure enough, seemed to be sleeping inside, so he gently tugs on his coat, shaking it a bit, "Yui, we're leaving now."

She blinks awake and sits up to poke her head out before letting out a massive yawn and stretching, "Ok." Once awake, she smiles up at him sweetly, "Good afternoon Papa. I missed you."

He chuckles as he gets up, "I missed you too. We'll be off to go see if your mama really is here now."

She smiles widely, "Ok!"

Leafa tilts her head, "Well, actually, after yesterday's… incident… I was wondering if you'd like to practice landing before we head out?"

Kirito gives his sister a slightly annoyed look, "An incident that wouldn't have happened if someone had remembered to teach me how to land…" She laughs awkwardly, but before she can say anything he huffs, "That said, if you don't mind, I'd rather learn when there's nothing for me to run into. We'll have to stop at least a couple times to let our wings recharge, right? If we just stop a bit early in a clearing or something…"

Leafa laughs lightly, "Yea, that's probably for the best… Well, come on then."

Following after her, he's a bit confused to be led to the tower from the previous night, which he gives a glare on sheer principle before turning to his sister, "Why are we going to the tower?"

She pauses to look up at it, "Oh, when flying long distances, it's better to start from the top of the tower. It gives you extra altitude."

He nods, "Oh, I get it."

He stares at it, still remembering crashing into it with his face last night, and is taken by surprise when his sister places her hands on his back and starts pushing him towards it, "Let's get going. I want to make it through the forest by nightfall."

Getting the hint, he begins heading for the large doors to the tower, and his sister stops pushing him, coming around to walk beside him. As they enter the tower, Kirito pauses to look around, but his sister quickly grabs his hand to pull him forward again, "This way, come on!"

His sister drags him towards a large stone cylinder in the middle of the room. It stretches all the to the ceiling, and Kirito was confident that it was probably a teleporter or something leading up into the tower. The tower _was_ massive and it sounded like players routinely went to the very top of it.

They've almost reached it when a male voice calls out to them, "Leafa!"

His sister sighs tiredly then puts on a pleasant smile before they turn to face the approaching group of three, "Hello Sigurd."

The man, Sigurd, scowls at Leafa despite her pleasant greeting, "You're really leaving the party, Leafa?"

She nods, "Yes, there are things I need to take care of."

His scowl deepens, "Don't you understand how that will inconvenience the other members?"

His sister purses her lips at that, "You promised I could join only when I had time, and that I could leave whenever I wanted. Well I _want_ to leave so that I'll have _time_ to do things that are more important to me."

He sighs as though being forced to explain something simple to a child, "You're already a well-known member of our party. If **you** of all people leave without reason, it will damage our reputation immensely."

His sister doesn't seem to know what to say to that, looking stricken, likely beginning to realize what it was really about, he and can't help closing his eyes with a resigned sigh. He feels terrible for her, for spending over a year in this game before realizing something like that. The short time he'd been around town had been more than enough to tell that female players, while not precisely _rare_ were highly uncommon, and given that there were few players good at fighting already, female players that could fight as well as his sister were likely almost _unheard_ of. In other words, to a person like Sigurd, Leafa's fighting skill was only an added benefit. She was primarily a trophy to show off the status of his party.

Opening his eyes, he glares at the man, "Your party members aren't items."

His sister looks at him with wide eyes, but he ignores her to take a few walks towards Sigurd calmly, who shifts his scowl to him, "What was that?"

He stops only a few feet away from the man, glaring up at the taller male, "You can't keep other players equipped all the time, as if they were your sword or armor."

The man's scowl turns into a furious glare and he grabs his sword, shifting into a stance, "You… You're just another _Spriggan_ who likes to rummage through trash! You're probably just some _nobody_ _**renegade**_ who was kicked out of his own territory. Don't pretend to understand what's going on!"

Kirito rolls his eyes at that, honestly he'd heard better insults as a Beater in Aincrad, "No. Leafa is my Imouto, and she's helping me with something important to me, which is why I came to meet up with her. I don't appreciate people treating my Imouto as some sort of _trophy_. Which is why I will _not_ allow you to pressure her into rejoining you."

Sigurd scowls furiously, "What did you say? Leafa, do you mean to abandon your territory and become a renegade too?"

Kirito is actually astonished by the man's arrogance, to believe that his sister was abandoning the Sylph as a whole simply because she refused to go back to his party. Leafa startles him a bit more by running with it though, "Yes, I am. I'm leaving this place."

Sigurd draws his sword, leveling it at Kirito furiously, "As long as you just buzzed around, I didn't plan to concern myself with you. But if you're going to be a thief, that's a different matter. If you're here, in another race's territory, you can't complain if you get killed, right?"

Kirito had noticed the attention their argument was getting as soon as it started when Sigurd had called him a renegade, and played it to his advantage, "Ah, but we've come right back around to my original point. My Imouto is a person, not a rare item for you to hoard or a trophy to display and therefore cannot be stolen. I may not have a right to complain about getting killed, if you can even manage to do so, but as her older brother, I do have the right to remove her from the presence of filth like you who sees her as nothing more than an object that belongs to you."

The crowd starts whispering at his words, but he'll need a bit more than what he'd just said to get them on his side. After all, anyone could simply _say_ they were related to someone and trying to protect them.

Which is why he was banking on his sister's fairly predictable nature, thankfully, it pays off, though given that his sister is terrible at acting, he knows the concern in her voice is genuine, "Onii-chan! Stop it, you can't fight back against him here. It's alright, really."

The crowds whispering increases to muttering and most of them start giving Sigurd and his party members dirty looks, so he gives the final push, "No, it's not ok. I won't just stand by and let my sister be used like an item by some coward who goes around killing people _who can't fight back_."

At that, more than one fighter in the crowd scowls and draws their weapon, ready to defend them against Sigurd's party. Their attention drawn by the sound of the weapons, Sigurd and the other two pale slightly as they realize the situation they've gotten themselves into.

The one of the left, apparently being at least a _bit_ smarter than Sigurd, hesitantly says, "C-Come on Sigurd. I-I know you're angry, but fighting someone who can't defend themselves is dishonorable. L-Let's just go…"

Sigurd growls lightly, but sheaths his weapon, "Once you're outside, run and hide Leafa. If you betray me, it won't be long before you regret it."

He turns and leaves, and Kirito struggles quite a bit too hold back a grin. There were few things that man could have said that would ruin his oh so _**precious**_ reputation so spectacularly. To the crowd, Kirito was simply an older brother trying to look out for his sister, who herself was simply trying to leave a party with a toxic atmosphere. But to say that leaving was a _betrayal_ and _**threaten**_ her? _Oh_ that guy may not have realized it yet, but his reputation had just gone down the drain.

Of course, he'd also dealt some damage to Leafa's reputation by saying she was going renegade, which would _slightly_ lessen the impact. However… The crowds attention hadn't wavered just yet, which means that as long as his sister cooperated with him, whether she knew it or not, he could still repair the damage.

Turning to his sister, he silently prays that she'll cooperate, "Hey. Was that really ok? Leaving his party was one thing, but that whole renegade business…"

Leafa sighs, "I didn't actually mean that… He was just making me so angry, insulting Onii-chan like that… I'm actually friends with Sakuya, the current Lord of the Sylph race. I'll clear it up with her later. If Sigurd tries to say anything to her, I'll just explain that I wanted to party with you for a bit. She'll understand."

Relief floods him as she unknowingly gives him exactly what he'd been looking for. Except for one or two people, it was obvious that the entire crowd had been swayed to the side of the 'poor siblings' who simply wanted to play together for a bit despite playing as different races. They were already whispering to one another, and seeing as Sigurd and his sister seemed to both be rather well known, the word would spread quickly. He and Leafa use the cylinder, which turns out to be a magic elevator, and as soon as they're of the roof, he finally allows himself a victorious smirk, though he tilts his head down to hide it from his sister as he didn't feel like explaining. It felt incredible to have utterly ruined that man who only saw his sister as a trophy, and protect his sister along with her reputation, all without having to lifting a single finger.

His sister's happy little laugh draws his gaze up, and his breath is taken away by the beautiful view from the tower as he walks forward to be closer to the edge without really thinking about it, "This view is amazing… We're so close to the sky. It's like I can reach out and touch it."

His sister smiles at him from her spot to his right, "Isn't it? Whenever I see this sky, everything else feels small." She looks up, stretching her hand out as though trying to actually touch the sky, "Despite the rough departure, it'll be nice to see more of this world."

He turns his gaze from the view to his sister, "Have you not seen much of it? I thought you said you'd been playing for a year though…"

Leafa nods, "I have, but… There are basically two types of players in this game. Players who mostly stick to their territory, only venturing out to do quests and the like with parties, which are entirely comprised of members of their own race, and that pay taxes to their territory to further its development. People like me and Recon fall within this category. Then there are renegades. They are players that are either banished from, or willingly abandon their race. You can usually tell a loyal party from a renegade party at a glance, as renegades are the only ones that have mixed parties." She sighs, "I've actually always wanted to leave this place and see more of Alfheim, but… If I do that and the Sylph manage to clear the World Tree, I'll miss out on the infinite flight, which makes up a solid half of the reason why I play Alfheim. I might've taken this opportunity anyway and simply left with Onii-chan, but you're only playing to find Marzanna-san and Asuna-san."

He looks at her, "Well, I might end up playing once Marzanna and Asuna, along with everyone else for that matter, are awake, but until then, there's no way I could concentrate on a game, so it's probably for the best that you didn't make that choice now."

Leafa smiles widely at him, "Yea, but I can always leave later if Onii-chan comes back.

Kirito returns her smile for a moment, "That sounds like it would be fun. But… Are you sure? Those other players made becoming a renegade sound kinda serious."

Leafa shrugs, "Not really. It's more that players loyal to their territories look down at renegades for being directionless and without purpose." She sighs, "I've never understood why they feel the need to tie each other down like that. We all have wings…"

Kirito stares at his sister, unsure what to say to that, but a moment later Yui pops out of his pocket, "Humans are complicated." Flying out, she lands on his shoulder and crosses her arms adorably, "I can't understand the psychology that causes the desire to seek others to manifest in such odd ways."

Leafa turns to them, or more accurately Yui, "Seek others?"

Yui nods, "This is what…" She pauses to press a kiss to his cheek, then smiles in a sweet innocent manner, "I'd do. It's simple and unmistakable."

Leafa laughs lightly, "Yes, I suppose it is. Though I don't think it'd work for all situations."

Yui giggles, "No, I guess not."

Leafa smiles at her for a moment, then her gaze drifts away as she gains a thoughtful look, "The desire to seek others…"

After a moment, the sound of the elevator doors opening comes from behind them, and the semi familiar voice of Recon called out, "Leafa-chan!"

Turning, they see the green haired boy running up, and his sister sighs lightly, "Oh, Recon."

The boy stops right in front of them, "I can't believe you! You could've at least said something before you left!"

His sister laughs awkwardly, "Sorry, I forgot."

Recon slumps in a defeated manner at that for a moment, then looks back up at Leafa, "Leafa-chan, they said you were gonna become a renegade!"

Leafa shakes her head, "No, that was just said in the heat of the moment. Sigurd was insulting Onii-chan and I lost my temper. Add I told you, I will be leaving for a bit though. What will you do?"

He straightens up and pulls his dagger, holding it in front of him in a non threatening manner, "What else can I do? My sword belongs to you alone!"

Leafa sighs, "I don't really need it though."

Recon slumps again, and Kirito can't help but tease him as he crosses his arms, "Bold."

Yui nods seriously as she mimics his motion, "Very bold."

Kirito nods, "In Aincrad, pledging your blade to one person alone was seen as a method of marriage proposal."

Yui nods seriously, and both Leafa and Recon turn beat red, before Recon shakes his head wildly, "That's not what I meant! I- I just meant-!" Finally seeming to realize he was just being teased, he gives them a pitiful look, "You're mean, Kirito-san." Then he sighs and turns back to Leafa, "W-Well, maybe I wouldn't be much help, but at least I could go with you. Or rather, I'd like to. But something's been bothering me."

His sister's brow furrows, "What is it?"

Recon looks away with slightly narrowed eyes, "I can't prove anything yet, but I want to look into some things, so I'll stay in Sigurd's party."

He turns back to Kirito, "I'm sure you already know this since she's your sister, but Leafa has a habit of flying right into trouble, so be careful."

He laughs lightly, "That's not something you should be telling me. I tend to just charge into danger myself."

Recon slumps even further, "Of course you do… Well, at the very least if you were able to save her from those Salamanders last night, you should be able to have her back."

Leafa glares at him lightly at the perceived slight against her skill, then sighs, "We'll probably be in neutral territory for a while. Send me a message if you need anything!"

Without another word, she turns with a huff and takes off. Recon slumps again, and Kirito pats his shoulder, "If it makes you feel better, I'm rooting for you. You seem like a good kid, so I wouldn't really mind you getting with her."

Recon blushes again, but before he can say anything, Kirito simply flashes him a grin while Yui dives into his pocket and takes off after his sister, quickly catching up to her, "You said he's a friend from school?"

She sighs, "Yea, sorta." He hums a bit, and she shoots him a glance, "Why, what of it?"

He smiles lightly, "Nothing really, I just think it's nice."

Yui pokes her head out, "He likes you, Auntie Leafa. What about you?"

Leafa blushes a bit, "I-I don't know!"

With those words, she flies faster to get away, and Kirito shares a confused look with his daughter. When they return their gazes to Leafa, she's looking back at Sylvain with a touch of sadness, but as she spots them it gives way to a smile, "Now let's go! We'll get to that lake before we land, then you can practice landing."

He smiles back at her, "Ok!"

As his sister turns back around, his gaze drifts to Yggdrasil in the distance, and his eyes narrow in fierce determination. Nothing would keep him from his mate. Not even some stupidly big tree full of supposedly impossible to beat enemies.


	31. The Dragon in League

January 21st, 2025

Kirito charges the one eyed winged lizards, called «Evil Glancer», as they circle back around in their attack before slicing through both with one swing. The beasts had spawned as a group of five, for the third time in twenty minutes already, and they had some sort of attack that debuffed his stats, but it wasn't enough to make much of a difference, so he just cleaved through them quickly. His sister didn't seem to realize that though, as every time he was attacked with the debuff, she quickly countered it.

With the other four dead and the last mob only possessing twenty percent of its health, it tries to run away. Just as he makes to take after it though, his sister starts chanting a spell, and within moments she's shot five boomerang looking blades of magic, which hone in on the mob, destroying it instantly.

He looks over the drop menu for a moment before his sister grabs his attention, "Good work."

He turns to find her smiling at him and returns it as he holds up his hand for a high five, "Thanks for the backup."

She giggles lightly after high fiving him, then she tilts her head, "That said, your fighting style is a bit reckless, Onii-chan."

He tilts his head, "Eh? How so?"

She crosses her arms, "Generally, it's a good idea to use hit and run tactics for evasion, but you just hit and keep hitting!"

Kirito tilts his head with a slight frown, "I can dodge or block if it becomes necessary, but they just weren't worth bothering with that. Besides, blocking and dodging, or even switching, are one thing, but hit and run tactics have never really been my style."

His sister sighs, "That may work in situations similar to this one, but not against a group of monsters that are a combination of melee and long ranged attackers. If we end up fighting a party of players, they'll definitely use magic, so you have to be more careful."

Kirito tilts his head, "Yea, but couldn't I just avoid it?"

His sister shakes her head though, "There are lots of different kinds of magic. For power focused magic that goes straight, it's true that you can read its direction and avoid it, but for homing and area type magic that's impossible. With these types of magic, you have to maintain high speeds and time your changes in direction."

Kirito sighs, "Yea, alright, I'll keep that in mind."

His sister smiles lightly, "Well if it's Onii-chan, I'm sure you'll learn quickly. You've got pretty good intuition and sharp eyes, not to mention your reflexes." His sister suddenly tilts her head slightly as though looking at something behind him, then looks over her shoulder at her wings just as they start to lose their shine, "Our wings aren't gonna last much longer. We should land soon."

As she says the last bit she points down at a clearing and he nods in understanding, "Alright."

He's rather thankful they'd already had to stop once, as it means he doesn't have to go through the uncomfortable lesson on learning how to land while using voluntary flight. Uncomfortable because he'd had more than one rough crash landing before getting the skill down, but he could do it with almost the same ease and grace as his sister now and no longer had to worry about landing on his face again, so he supposes it had been worthwhile.

As their feet touch down, his sister lifts both her arms in a massive stretch, and Kirito himself was rolling his shoulders. It was strange, but despite not having such limbs in real life, Kirito had found that the area around one's wings in Alfheim felt weirdly fatigued and strained after a long flight.

His sister turns to him with a slight smile, "Tired?"

He shakes his head, "No, not yet."

Leafa chuckles, "Tough guy, are we? Well, either way, our flying is pretty much at an end for a while."

He glances at her in confusion, "Eh? Why?"

She points up ahead of them with a slightly serious look, "You see that mountain, right? It's above three altitude limit, so to pass it, you have to go through the caves. It's the toughest part of the trip between Sylph territory and Alne, or so I've heard. I've never been past this point either."

Kirito tilts his head at the massive mountain still a fair distance away, "I see… Caves, huh? Are they long?"

His sister nods, "Yup. I've been told there's a neutral mining town midway that we'll be able to rest at, but that's it. It's already 7 at night, but we should be able to reach the mining town at least, but we should rotate out for now."

He looks at his sister in confusion, "Rotate?"

She gives a slightly awkward laugh, "With how good you are, I keep forgetting you've only been in ALO for a day… You know how I said you can't log out instantly anywhere but a town in your territory? Well, that obviously includes the neutral area, so you take turns logging out for a bit while the other guards your empty avatar. I don't know about you Onii-chan, but I'd rather take a quick shower and grab something to eat now rather than later."

Kirito nods, "I see. Alright then. You can go first if you'd like."

She nods as she gives him a slight smile, "Alright, thanks. I'll see you in twenty minutes, Onii-chan."

Without another word she opens her menu and logs out, her avatar immediately closing its eyes and slumping down to its knees like a puppet with its strings cut.

With a sigh, he resigns himself to a rather boring twenty minutes and plops down. Within ten minutes he's shifted to a lounging position and pulled out one of the few items he'd bought out of curiosity. It kinda looked like a small red straw of bamboo, but it was supposedly a really spicy food, which is why it had grabbed his attention, so he tries taking a bite. He's not disappointed, but in his opinion, it could be spicier. Still, it tasted good and he lets out an appreciative hum.

Yui looks up at him in curiosity, "Papa, can I try it?"

Smiling as he recalls the spicy sandwich incident in Aincrad, he breaks a small piece off and hands it to her. She tilts her head at it in curiosity, then takes a bite. Quickly chewing it, she smiles up at him, "It's yummy!"

He laughs at her, "Isn't it?"

For a bit, they just stay there sharing the spicy treat, though it's not long before Yui decides she's full. Absently putting the treat in his mouth, he mulls over the idea of whether or not Pixies actually had some sort of food limit that told then they were 'full' programmed in, or if it was simply Yui's learning algorithms taking what she'd observed from other people and altering it to take into account her size. She may be truly intelligent, but she still leaned like an AI, by observing and mimicking, and for all that she seemed like just a little girl, as an advanced AI she certainly possessed the skill to calculate such a thing.

He tilts his head as a sudden thought occurs to him. Back in the hidden dungeon beneath the first floor, Yui had said that she'd been watching them for a while. He loved spicy foods and while not to the same extent as him, Marzanna liked them as well. Was it possible that even before she'd taken a bite of one of Asuna's spicy sandwiches that she'd learned the concept 'spicy is good' from watching them? Hmm…

He's pulled from his thoughts by Leafa suddenly speaking up from behind him, "I'm back. See any monsters?"

He turns to look at her over his shoulder still munching on the stick thingy, "Welcome back. Nah, it was totally quiet."

His sister gives him a baffled look before pointing at his treat, "What's that?"

Kirito looks down his nose at it, "I bought a bunch at an item shop last night." Taking it out of his mouth, he holds it up as he looks at her, trying to suppress a mischievous grin, "An NPC said it's a Sylph specialty."

His sister narrows her eyes, "I've never heard of it."

He casually tosses it to her, and she catches it easily, staring at it for a moment with curiosity before taking a bite. Immediately she starts coughing and he laughs. She glares at him a bit, "Onii-chan! You know I can't stand spicy food!" He just continues to laugh though, so she pouts at him, "You're so mean, Onii-chan…"

He gets his laughter under control as he sits up, crossing his legs comfortably, "Well, it's my turn now. Keep me safe."

She sighs, "Yea, yea. Big meanie. Right after I left you sandwiches on the counter and everything."

He chuckles slightly, "Well, thanks for that then. See you soon."

Without another word, he logs out. The world rapidly turning white before he blinks his eyes open to the sight of his ceiling. He takes off his NerveGear and sets it on his desk, quickly hurrying downstairs to eat his sandwiches. Despite his sister's preference of not taking a shower late at night, Kazuto would rather take one after he's done diving. His body may not move while he's diving, but it would still sweat reflexively if he fought hard enough or anything of the sort. So other than a quick stop to go to the bathroom, he's back in his room and laying back down with the NerveGear on within five minutes.

He comes back to find his sister has moved to sit near him and is blushing bright red with her eyes clenched shut while waving her hands in front of her, "Nothing!"

He looks at her in confusion, "What's nothing?" She recoils in shock, and he can't help but give her a weird look, "I'm back. Did something happen?"

His sister doesn't respond, but Yui, who's now on his shoulder, smiles up at him, "Welcome back, Papa. I was just talking with Auntie Leafa. About what it means to-"

His sister starts freaking out at that though waving her arms wildly and cutting her off in a panic, "It's nothing!" Then she at least tries for an air of calm, though her smile is strained and awkward, "T-That was fast."

Kirito shrugs lightly, "I'd prefer to shower later, so it was really just a break to eat and go to the bathroom."

Leafa nods, still a bit strained, "I see… Well, let's get going! We can fly to the start of the tunnel, but after that, it's all on foot."

She stands up and pulls out her wings, her smile relaxing a bit. He tilts his head at her, still wondering what that had all been about, "Yea… Let's go, then."

He climbs to his feet and pulls his own wings out as Yui flies back into his pocket, but then his brow furrows as he gets that feeling of being watched. He turns to look around, straining his Search skill, though it was likely all but useless in this world of magic.

His sister gives him a worried look, "Is something wrong?"

He glances at her before continuing to look around, "It felt like someone was watching us… Yui, are any players nearby?"

His daughter looks at him with utmost seriousness, "No, there's no one around us."

His sister frowns, "Felt like you were being watched? Isn't that a bit… silly, Onii-chan? There's nothing like a sixth sense in the game…"

Kirito tilts his head, "Perhaps not, but… It was something skilled players in Aincrad learned to do. It doesn't even have anything to do with actual skills, like searching. Some people theorized that since the system will have to reference the data of a player when they're being looked at, that despite the fact you should be totally unaware of it some people have learned to instinctively recognize it.(1) I'm not sure if I believe that particular theory, but it's the one that made the most sense, and that… ability saved my life more than once in Aincrad."

His sister's eyes widen, "Really? I've never heard of players being able to do anything like that… Then again, I suppose no one in this world actually has their lives depending on it…"

Kirito nods, but then he sighs, "However, Yui says no one's around, so it must've been just a false alarm or something…" A bit quieter he mumbles to himself as he continues to stare into the trees surrounding them, "Though that's never happened to me before."

His sister still hears it though, and frowns heavily as she begins scanning the skies, "It's possible someone put a tracer on us."

His gaze snaps back to her, "Tracer? I can guess from the name, but what exactly is that?"

Leafa nods, "It's a kind of magic. It takes the form of a small animal or insect, and tells the career the target's position."

He frowns, "I don't suppose you could get rid of it?"

Leafa shrugs, "If you can find it you can, but you actually have to destroy the tracer to get rid of it. However, the higher the caster's magic skill, the further it can be from the target. It'd be nearly impossible to find out here."

Kirito sighs, "I see… Well, there's still always the chance it's simply my imagination… Let's just hurry and go."

Leafa and Yui look like they believe it to be just a false alarm as much as he does, and Leafa hesitantly adds, "Well, there's not much reason to put something like that on us. The only real reasons to use that spell are if you're trying to spy on another territory or if you're targeting a specific party to PK. The first isn't really applicable to us, and the only real reason someone would want to PK us is if they saw us in the field, which usually doesn't warrant a tracer… Well, anyhow, let's just go. If there is a tracer, it'll be much easier to spot in the tunnels, assuming it doesn't have a distance far enough to make it impossible for us to see in there… Even with night vision, whether natural or from a spell, you still can't see as far in a cave as you can outside…"

Kirito nods seriously, but after a moment, his sister shakes her head, clearly putting it out of her mind as she smiles at him before taking off, and he's quick to follow. It takes a solid ten minutes before they reached the entrance, and when they get there they'd barely made it ten meters before his sister suddenly grabs his arm.

He turns to look at her in confusion, but weirdly, she's just looking in his vague direction. He frowns at her, "Is something wrong."

She sighs, "Yea, I can barely see you, and even that is just your vague shape. I realize you can see just fine, but that's because Spriggan have natural night vision. I told you that last night. Anyway, open your menu. There's a tab that looks like a staff, do you see it?"

It's easy to spot as the only immediately noticeable difference between SAO's menu and ALO's, "Yes. I'm assuming it's the magic tab?"

His sister nods, "Yes. Look through it and find the night vision spell, you need to get pronunciation and the like right, so there's a button, like a little speaker icon, to hear how it's said if you need it. Do me a favour and cast it on me."

Clicking on the tab, he navigates the magic sub menu slowly, entirely unused to it. It takes him a few minutes to find the spell in question, and he listens carefully to its pronunciation before focusing on his sister, holding his hand in front of him as the page said too, he gives it a try, "Ōsu nāza nōto raisa auga."

He can't help but smile as his sister's eyes immediately focus and look around, a tiny bit proud to have gotten it on his first try. Partially because he was sure that Marzanna, who seemed to love languages, would take this part of ALO rather seriously, and would probably be a bit proud of him.

Leafa laughs lightly, "What do you know, you Spriggans really are useful for something."

Giving her a slightly amused look as he was rather sure he'd already proven himself useful in a fight, he plays along, "Put that way, it kind of hurts."

His sister laughs, "You should take the time to memorize as much magic as you can. Of course, Spriggans are only really good at illusion magic, which is only really useful for tricking people and mobs. It's not that useful in combat though." She gives him a teasing grin, "Well, even the lame Spriggan magic might save our lives someday."

She turns away to continue walking with a slight giggle, as though she finds the idea preposterous, and he stares after her with a slight frown, "... That hurt even more." Then he hurries to catch up, "... That was for the spicy thing wasn't it?"

She laughs a bit more, then glances at him, "You really should learn some spells though. While Orcs do spawn in here, really the only thing to worry about and they aren't stealthy in the slightest, so you should take advantage of this part of the journey to try and memorize a few spells. I'm sure there's got to be at least _one_ other useful spell in what's available to you."

He glances at her with a slightly raised eyebrow, "Wouldn't that get annoying for you? Having to hear me listening to spells? And should I really just be casting spells in here?"

She waves her hand dismissively, "No, just like I can't see your menu unless you make it viewable, I can't hear you listening to the spells. As for casting," She glances back quickly, and continues upon still seeing his menu open, "right next to the speaker icon there's a speech bubble, do you see it?" She waits until he nods to continue, "Technically speaking, you can't cast a spell unless you raise or extend your hand or hands as the spell dictates, so you can practice saying spells without having to worry about accidentally casting, but if you click that and then try saying the spell the system will tell you if you're saying it right. That said, you shouldn't just try to memorize how they sound. You should learn the words of power's meanings, then memorize the spells, based on their effects."

He sighs, "I never thought I'd have to do something like learn an entire language in a game... Marzanna would probably be excellent at it though."

Strangely, that makes his sister tense up for a moment before she seems to force herself to relax, "Just so you know, the higher ranked spells have around twenty words."

He slumps in a defeated manner, "I'm just gonna stick to fighting…"

Leafa turns back with a frown, "No complaining, just do it."

For the next hour, they continue on, occasionally fighting, but mostly just walking while Kirito tries to memorize some of the spells that catch his interest or get pointed out to him by Yui, while Leafa leads them through the twisting maze like tunnel with the map data she bought in Sylvein. After a while though, a small orange circle appears in front of her with a few quiet notification beeps. She turns back to it with a slight frown, "I have a message. Sorry, just hold on a second."

He nods lightly, "Sure."

She clicks it then sighs, "Recon again? I'm sure it's nothing, but…" Then she reads it aloud with a look of slight confusion, "'I was right. Be careful, S.' What's this? 'S'? Sa… Shi… Su?"

Kirito frowns at his sister's confusion, "What's wrong?"

Leafa turns her head towards him, "Oh, well-"

Yui suddenly sticks her head out of his pocket with a serious expression, "Papa, something's getting closer."

His hands go to his swords, "Monsters?"

However, Yui shakes her head widely, "No, players. Lots of them. Twelve."

Leafa half turns to them in alarm, "Twelve?!" She suddenly frowns heavily as her brow furrows, "I've got a bad feeling about this. Let's hide and wait for them to pass."

Kirito glances around, but there's nowhere that's really any good for hiding, "But where?"

His sister smiles lightly, "Just leave that to me." She pulls him over to an alcove, then pushes him inside behind her as she turns to face the entrance and lifts her hand above her, "Shikku shāru ōbisu gurōn roputo."

As she finishes her incantation, a wall of magic gathers and quickly forms a barrier between the rest of the cave and them. Kirito nearly wants to smack himself. Magic, of course. Despite the fact he'd _just_ been studying magic, his mind had immediately reverted to the way of thinking he'd leaned in Aincrad and discarded magic _entirely_ , his mind hadn't even considered it as a viable option.

He pokes lightly as the slightly off color barrier, which had disguised itself to look like part of the cave wall, though he was fairly confident in saying that it was likely only their side that was discolored. It ripples slightly, and his sister turns to him, whispering, "Make sure you whisper as quietly as you can. If you're too loud, it'll break the spell."

He turns to his sister and nods seriously, "I understand."

Yui, already soft spoken, is just barely audible when she whispers to them, "We'll be able to see them soon."

They all stare down the corridor, but then Kirito spots a tiny red… something, bobbing around in the air, and leans forward a bit more to try and get a better look, "What is that?"

His sister gives him a confused look, "Huh? We can't see them yet."

He shakes his head minutely as he tries to get a better look at it, "It isn't a player…. A bat? It's small and red."

His sister gasps lightly and quickly turns to try and see for herself. For a few tense moments, she strains to see what he is, and gasps again, then quite suddenly leaps out of hiding, taking down the barrier in the process. He frowns at her in worry, "H-Hey, what's wrong?"

Leafa frowns severely, "That's a high-level tracing searcher!" She extends both her hands in preparation of a spell, and the bat begins to turn to fly away, "We have to destroy it! Ekku sukīto tuttūgu sumāru sutorīda!"

With those words, twenty needles fire in rapid succession, a few of them managing to hit the tiny bat and destroy it. Without wasting a second, Leafa turns to him, "Run, Onii-chan!"

She doesn't hesitate to take off, but he does, calling after her, "Can't we just hide again?"

He catches up with her as she explains, "The enemy knows we blew up their tracer. We won't be able to fool them." She glances back at him with a heavy look, "And that was a fire element familiar. Which means that the approaching party…"

He frowns heavily, "Salamanders!"

She nods, "Yes. I guess this means you were right earlier. We _were_ being watched." She turns and frowns back the direction they came from without slowing as they enter a huge cavern that was basically a huge lake with bridges and a small town suspended above it, "But what is a group of Salamanders doing here? Or more accurately, why are they hunting us so seriously?"

Kirito gets distracted a bit as he stares at the beautiful lake, "Oh! It's an underground lake…" As they reach the halfway point of the bridge, Kirito can't help but smile, "Looks like we're going to make it."

His sister smiles slightly at him, "Don't lower your guard and fall in."

Of course, that was the moment that two beams of magic shot ahead of them and raised a stone wall, he reaches for his swords and draws them, "We just had to jinx it!"

However, in the time he paused to say that, his sister seems to catch onto what he's planning to do and quickly stops him, "That won't work! That's an earth magic barrier, physical attacks won't do anything to it."

They come to a stop a few meters from the wall, "Can we jump into the lake?"

Leafa shakes her head, "Nope. Supposedly, there are extremely high-level monsters in the water. Fighting without an Undine backing you up would be suicide."

Kirito nods his understating, turning to face the enemies approaching the bridge and readies his weapons, "Then we have to fight?"

His sister looks at him seriously, "Yes, but it might not be too easy. If the Salamanders can use high-level earth magic, they have a powerful mage."

His sister draws her blade, and he glances at her, "Leafa… It isn't that I don't trust your skills as a swordsman. I know better than anyone just how good you are. But could you handle support from here?" His sister gives him a startled look, so he explains a bit, "I want you to stay in the back and heal me. That way, I can fight harder."

His sister sighs lightly, but gives him a smile before jumping back closer to the wall. By now, three tanks equipped with the same armor as the three that had ganged up on Leafa, but with large tower shields, were nearly to the middle of the bridge. After taking a deep breath to center himself, he dashes at the group, the Salamanders immediately planting their shields and bracing themselves just in time for his both his swords to slash at them horizontally at the same time. A shockwave tears through the air at the blow, shaking the bridge slightly and rippling across the lake. All three of the Salamanders recoil from the force, but manage to hold their positions even at as their health drops by two-thirds.

A second later though, the first line of three mages in the back finish their chanting, and the tanks health fills back up. Then the second cluster of six mages in the very back finish their spells and Kirito gets slammed by no less than twelve fireballs as his sister shouts at him in panic. Falling to a knee, he tries to catch his breath after the highly uncomfortable feeling of being slammed into with such force, even if he can't feel pain. There's a brief pause as fire and smoke linger on the bridge, then his sister quickly casts a spell and a warm feeling washes over him, dispelling the discomfort and returning his own health. He grins slightly before taking off again, the speed of it putting out the small fires and dispelling the smoke.

He attacks, this time in a manner then ends with a jump, in the slim hope it might be harder to hit him, again he depletes their health nearly to the red before they're healed and he is thrown back by fireballs, bouncing and skidding along the bridge. He climbs to his feet slowly as his sister finishes her spell, staring at the inferno before him as Yui quickly whispers to him.

Even though he can't feel pain, the force with which the fireballs slam into him and the heat from the blasts was highly unpleasant. That was likely why his sister calls out to him, "That's enough Onii-chan! It's just another few hours of flying from Sylvein, and whatever items are stolen can be bought back! Let's just give up."

He glances over his shoulder at her fiercely, "No way." His sister takes a step back in surprise, but he continues anyway, "While I'm alive, I won't let any party members die. I will never let that happen!"

His sister seems to be at a loss for words at that. It wasn't as though he was losing himself in the moment, as though he was forgetting this wasn't like Aincrad. He was fully awake this was different, it was just that after Aincrad, he just couldn't bear to let anything happen to party members, whether in a regular game or not. Turning back around be sheaths one of his swords as the fire begins to die down before disappearing all at once with a 'whoosh'.

As soon as he got a clear view of the enemies, he couldn't stop himself from roaring with rage, causing them to flinch in shock he rushes forward. Grabbing the edge of one of the shields, he forcibly separates them enough to jam his second blade between them.

The action seems to surprise the tanks, as the one using the shield he's holding grunts out, "What the hell? What's he doing?"

Seeing the attack mages chanting, he quickly lets go and jumps back. After a few seconds in which he starts to seriously worry, Leafa begins to chant quickly and relief washes over him that Yui had managed to convince her to use her magic to block the next attack. Thousands of bright blue butterflies descend around him before disintegrating into a shield seconds before the enemy mages finish their casting.

Kirito waits a moment as the spells slam into Leafa's shield before Yui calls out, "Papa, now!"

Immediately lifting the hand still holding a sword above his head, he begins one of the chants Yui had pointed out and told him to learn earlier, "Seā urāza nōto diputo, ren herubegūru."

As soon as the spell is cast, he feels himself begin to change, the whirlwind from it twisting the inferno around him into a tornado of fire. However, within a second something… sparks inside him, and the change itself shifts, twisting into something _else_.

As the fire dissipates, he roars a challenge to the Salamanders, the very sound creating a shockwave, and one of the tanks stumbles back in fear, "D-Dragon?!"

Without thinking about it, he shoots forward, slamming a claw onto the ground and skewering two of the tanks with his talons in the process before it occurs to him that he's not actually touching the ground, but hovering just a bit above it, and that he moved with a back and forth motion similar to a snake. It shouldn't have been so easy to simply lunge towards them to attack, and it should take a bit of thought and coordination to slash his other claw at the remaining tank, but it doesn't. It feels… natural. As easy as breathing.

The mages stare at him in shock and fear for a moment before the only mage with unique gear, who seems to be in charge, stutters out, "E-Explosion magic!"

The mages glance at him unsurely, then raise their staffs and start chanting in trembling voices. Kirito feels a thrill go through him, _'You want fire? I'll give you fire!'_

Taking a deep breath, he exhales a torrent of flame onto the irritating healers. They briefly scream in terror before their avatars disappear into the tiny looking Remain Lights.

The chanting of the attack mages trails off as they freeze up in fear, and Kirito gives another furious roar, prompting the mage in charge to stutter out another order, "R-Retreat!

As they begin to back away in fear, he narrows his eyes in fury, then crosses the distance, twisting around them to close his long body into a loose circle, trapping them inside as he stares the terrified mages down. They'd hunted himself, his daughter, and his sister, stalked them until they'd cornered them, then attacked them with the intention of wiping them out. There was _no way_ Kirito would let them get away.

He lunges his head down, snatching one up with his mouth and bites into him as he slashes at two more with his talons. The mage in charge tries to take advantage of this 'distraction' to climb over his tail, but Kirito simply flicks it and sends the screaming man into the lake as he crushes another mage into the ground with a claw.

He lowers his head, staring the last mage down, then slowly opens his jaws as fire curls up from his mouth. Just as he's about to ignite the final mage, his sister calls out to him, "Wait! Onii-chan, let him live!"

He narrows his eyes briefly, then closes his mouth and straightens up. The mage stumbles back and falls on his butt, and Kirito shifts his gaze to his sister. Seeing her approaching, he shifts his tail out of the way, then leans over the ledge of the bridge in curiosity. Unsurprisingly, it's neither his, nor his avatar's face that looks back at him, but the large head of an eastern style dragon, which was primarily black with a red underside.

Yui giggles slightly, "That was awesome, wasn't it?"

His gaze shifts back in time to see his sister draw her sword and point it at the mage with an angry expression, and he quickly releases the spell as she snaps out, "Now, why don't you tell us who sent you here?"

The Salamander flinches away, but bravely forces out, "K-Kill me if you want, but I won't say anything!"

His sister's scowl deepens, "Why you…"

He rolls his shoulders as he approaches them, cutting across his sister who despite having been playing for over a year, still didn't seem to have grasped what made most MMO players cooperative, "Oh, that was fun…" Walking over, he couches in front of the mage and gives him a friendly smile, partially to ease the man and partially because he's legitimately in a better mood now that he's blown off some steam, "Hey, nice fight." The mage gives him a slightly confused incredulous look, but Kirito just grins at him, "That was a good plan. If I'd been alone, I wouldn't have lasted a minute."

His sister looks just as confused as the last remaining mage, "W-Wait, Onii-chan-!"

He smiles at her and raises his hand to stop her, "Give me a second." He winks at her, then leans forward to casually rest his arm on the guy's shoulder as he makes the drop menu from the fight visible to him with a conspiratorial grin, "So, I have an offer for you. These are the items and Yuld I won in the last battle. If you answer my questions in a satisfactory manner, you can have them!"

The man glances around, likely double checking that the other Salamanders Remain Lights had disappeared, then leans towards him slightly, "Seriously?"

Kirito lowers his voice to whisper in a conspiratorial manner, "Totally."

He and the mage share a grin, and his sister gives them an exasperated look before turning away, "Men."

Yui sighs, "He's pretty blunt about it. Mama's _definitely_ been rubbing off on him."

The mage nods, so he stands up and taps his sister on the shoulder Yui isn't sitting on. Once they're all paying attention to him, the mage begins, "It was earlier this evening when G-Takusu-san… The leader of the mage squad that you threw into the lake that is, messaged me on my phone to meet up. When I arrived, he said twelve of us were going to go hunting for two people. I thought it was overkill, but… He said you were the ones who took out Kagemune-san, so it made sense."

Kirito tilts his head at the familiar name, "Kagemune?"

He'd been the leader of the Salamanders that had ganged up on Leafa, the one that sorta owed him a favor for letting him go. The mage seems to take the questioning tone as confusion to Kagemune's identity and explains, "Yes. He's the leader of the Lancer squad. He's famous for hunting Sylphs. But yesterday, he got wiped out in battle and ran back. That was you, wasn't it?"

Kirito shares a look with his sister, who immediately turns her gaze back to the mage, "But why did this G-Takusu guy come after us?"

The mage shrugs, "It sounded like it was someone higher up that ordered it. Something about you interfering with the plan."

Kirito doubts the man knows any more than that. One of the reasons he'd attempted persuading him with the items and money was because he didn't seem to be of high ranking amongst the Salamanders, but he tries asking anyway, "Plan? What plan?"

Unsurprisingly, the player shrugs, "They wouldn't tell someone at the bottom of the totem pole like me. But it seems like they're planning something big… When I logged in today, I saw a huge number of fighters heading north."

His sister brings hey loosely curled forefinger up to her chin in thought, "They must be… going to attempt the World Tree."

However, the player shakes his head, "No way. We figured the whole army would need at _least_ ancient weapon class equipment, so we've been saving money for that." His sister turns thoughtful again, and after a beat of silence, the man continues, "That's all I know." Then he turns his gaze from Leafa to Kirito, "You weren't lying about what you said earlier, were you?"

Kirito grins slightly, "Nope. I'm a man of my word, and I'd never lie about a trade." Opening his menu, he opens a trade with the Salamander and quickly deposits the items and Yuld before accepting the trade as is, "Thank you for the information!"

The man smiles widely as he sees the stuff, "Ehhe! Thanks! A deal's a deal, so… I'll just be going."

Kirito nods and extends a hand to help the man up, then moves out of the way and lets him go. He and his sister watch the man leave for a moment before his sister speaks up, "Hey, that monster I just saw… That was you, wasn't it?"

He nods, "Yup!" Then he grins and pats her shoulder as he passes her on the way to the town, "Hey, what do you know? My _lame Spriggan magic_ just saved our lives!"

There's a pause, then he hears her hurry to catch up. She takes a quick breath to say something, pauses, then lets it out, and repeats the process a few times bettor giving up, clearly unsure what to say to that. He glances back and chuckles. Yui giggles as she drifts from Leafa's shoulder to his own, and he smiles warmly down at her.

Leafa sighs, then shifts back to the previous subject, "So… That was just you rampaging?"

He shrugs, "Not really. Sometimes I just kind of snap in battle, lose control, and start forgetting things. That's when I _really_ rampage. This wasn't anything like that. I mostly remember this time."

His sister's footsteps falter, and she mumbles to herself, "Ah… Scary."

He ignores her, and continues with what he'd been saying, "At least, I _think_ remember everything this time. I used the spell Yui suggested, and then I was huge… My swords were gone, so I just used my talons."

Yui pipes up from his shoulder, "You were chomping on them too."

He nods as he remembers that, he hadn't really been thinking about what he was doing at the time, having trapped his prey, he had just been acting almost without thought, "Come to think of it, yea… I got to feel like a mob. It was lots of fun!"

Leafa hesitantly asking asks in a morbidly curious tone, "Did they taste like anything?"

Feeling like messing with his sister a bit after her jab about Spriggan magic earlier, he stops in his tracks and bluntly says, "A texture like yakiniku just before it's burnt."

His sister seems to quickly change her mind, "Actually, never mind. Don't say anymore."

Turning with a small grin, he grabs her hand, opens his mouth, and chomps down on her hand. His sister promptly overreacts, letting out a scream, and without thinking about it, slaps him.

He pulls away from her, shocked by the slap, and Leafa slowly turns red as she realizes what she'd done, then hurries past him in embarrassment only to pause and look around in wonder when they finally get to enter the town, "So this is Legrue?"

Kirito rubs at his face, and Yui pipes up again, "That one was your fault."

His sister nods in agreement, "Seriously!"

Kirito huffs as he stares at his sister wearily, "It was a joke. To lighten up the tense mood."

His sister glares at him over her shoulder, "Next time you do that, I slice you in half."

He sighs, "What an overreaction. You've really got no sense of humor, do you Leafa?"

Leafa places her hands on her hips in annoyance, "I do too!"

Yui giggles slightly, "It's ok Papa. Not everyone appreciates your… particular brand of humor like Mama and me."

Leafa sighs, then looks away, only to perk up at the sight of a weapons stall. Moving over to it, she picks up a blade and starts to examine it before something occurs to Kirito, "Oh that's right…" His sister turns to him in question, and he tilts his head at her, "Didn't you get a message before those Salamanders attacked us?"

That seems to startle his sister, "Yea… I forgot." Setting the weapon down, she opens her menu, navigating it quickly before she frowns, "What's with Recon? Did he fall asleep? His cursor says he's offline... but he _never_ gets off this early, and after sending me such a weird message too..."

Kirito tilts his head again, "Do you want to log out and try to reach him?"

Leafa thinks it over for only a few seconds before nodding, "Yea, ok. I'll log out really quickly and check with him. Just wait a moment please." Then she turns her gaze to Yui with a slight smile, "Take care of my body, Yui-chan. Make sure Onii-chan doesn't do anything weird like trying to chomp on me again."

Yui straightens into a salute from where she's hovering above his shoulder, "Roger!"

He sighs, "Seriously…"

One step forward by proving Spriggan magic _can_ be useful, two back into being the canon fodder for jokes by trying to lighten the mood. His sister moves over to a bench, then gives them a brief smile before logging out.

He sighs as her avatar slumps down, and Yui giggles lightly, "Papa isn't very good at waiting."

He smiles lightly at her, "No, I'm really not." He stretches his arms above his head, still trying to work out the charged, electric feeling that was left behind by the transformation spell, "It's one thing if I'm just lounging around, I have total control over that, but generally when you have to wait for something or someone, there's nothing you can do to speed it up. There's nothing you can do but wait."

Spotting a food stand only a few feet away, he looks down at Yui as he points at it, "Hey, I'm gonna go grab something really quick. I'll be keeping an eye on things over here, but shout if anything happens."

Yui nods with a smile, "Ok! You gotta share it with me though!"

He smiles at her, "Well of course I will!"

Going over to the stand, he goes over the small selection quickly, then chooses some sort of meat kebabs. Hurrying back over to his sister and daughter, he sits down on the bench and pulls one of the chucks of meat off, then hands it to Yui.

She smiles as she clutches the piece of meat that's at least half her size, "Smells yummy!" Kirito nods in agreement, then takes a huge bite. After her first bite, Yui gets a thoughtful look, "It tastes… Hmm, not bad. It's pretty good actually, but it's… weird, I suppose."

He swallows his bite, "Tastes like frog legs. I had them once in the real world. Good, isn't it?" Yui nods and he grins at her, "See! I told Hanna-" His mood and expression both drop as he tightens his grip on the stick, "... I told her those toad legs would've tasted good…"

Yui turns a bit sad as well for a moment, then smiles up at him, "We'll save Mama soon. Then we can show her these! Right, Papa?"

He smiles gently at her, "Right."

There's a few moments of silence, then Kirito shakes his head and shifts his attention back to his food. Just as he's about to take a bite though, Leafa suddenly shoots up from the bench looking conflicted. He turns to her with a worried expression, "Su- Leafa? What's wrong?"

She bites her lip, "... I just spoke to Recon. Sakuya, the Sylph leader is supposed to be meeting with the leader of the Cait Sith to discuss the last few things and sign an alliance agreement. However, Sigurd, the leader of my former party that we had that… disagreement with back before we left Sylvein, turned traitor and sold out the meeting to the Salamanders. The Salamanders are attacking in force. Sakuya is my friend, so normally I'd go and try to help, but with all this stuff about Marzanna-san and Asuna-san…"

He tosses the rest of his kebab as he climbs to his feet and Yui quickly drops the remainder of her food to dive into his pocket, then he grabs his sister's hand as he passes and breaks into a run, "This matters to you, right?"

His sister's voice is confused, but she follows without hesitation, "Y-Yes. As I said, Sakuya is my friend, but-"

He shoots her a smile over his shoulder, "But nothing. If she's your friend, then you should go and help her. _We_ will go and help." By now they'd reached the bridge, and he turns back to face forward to watch where he's going while he thinks, "That said, mind if I ask some questions?"

His sister is now running next to him, so he sees her shake her head out of his peripheral, "No, go ahead."

He doesn't hesitate to start in, "How do the Salamanders benefit from attacking the Sylphs and the Cait Sith?"

His sister sighs, "First, they can stop the alliance. If an information leak on the Sylph side kills their leader, the Cait Sith would pull out of the alliance. It's even possible there could be war between the Cait Sith and the Sylphs. That alone would be more than enough reason for the Salamanders to attack, but that's not even mentioning the fact that if you kill a territory's Lord, you get thirty percent of the territory's money, _and_ you can invade it's capital for ten days and levy whatever tax you want. In other words, you can nearly bleed a territory dry if you do it right."

Kirito glances at her with wide eyes, "You can do that?"

His sister nods, then hesitates again, "So, Onii-chan, this is a Sylph problem. You have absolutely no reason to get involved. If we go to the meeting, we probably won't survive. We'll have to start at Sylvein again." Then she bites her lip and slows to a stop, "Actually, Onii-chan… If your goal is to reach the top of the World Tree… You'd probably be better off working with the Salamanders…" He turns to her in confusion, but she won't meet his gaze, and there's a weirdly pained look in her eyes that she's rather obviously trying to hide, "If they pull this off, they'll be perfectly positioned to make an attempt at the World Tree. Since you're a Spriggan, and you've already proven your skill by taking out both those Lancers and that group just now, they'd likely hire you as a mercenary… It-... It might just be in your best interest to kill me now and go help _them_. Given the reason for your goal, I… I wouldn't complain if you did. You'd just be doing what's best for your goal."

Apparently unable to take even looking at him in her peripheral, she lowers her head and closes her eyes. He can't help but stare at her, more than a bit saddened by the fact his sister honestly believes he could kill her, even in a game, "... In the end, it's just a game, so do what you want. If you want to kill someone, kill them. If you want to steal, you steal." His sister clutches her hands at that, seeming to prepare herself, but he simply continues, "I've met more people who think that way than I like. In a way, it's true. I used to think the same way as well." He turns to walk back towards her and his sister flinches at the sound of his boots coming closer, but she makes no move to even try to defend herself. His sorrow increases slightly, but he pushes on to what he's trying to say, "But it's not right… If there's one thing I learned from Aincrad, it's that there are things you have to protect _because_ it's a virtual world, no matter how stupid you look. If you give in to your impulses in this world, the price is that your personality in the real world reflects those changes."

It was something he'd seen with his own eyes in every player from Aincrad. It was true that they were under vastly more extreme circumstances, but he felt it was true even without the threat of death. The most extreme case he'd seen was Rosalia. He'd visited her in prison shortly after he was released from the hospital. After she'd been forced to see the truth, to realize that she really _had_ killed those people, she'd confessed to everything and pled guilty of her crimes in court. When he'd seen her, she'd become a shell of her former self, devoured by guilt for what she'd done. Even he himself had changed, infuriated with his atrophied body that was unable to run, to _fight_ , the irritation that his fighting was no longer up to par, even though there was no longer a reason to.

He sighs as he tries to explain that to his sister, "The player and the character are one and the same. You're my sister, whether your Sugu or Leafa. I'd never hurt you, and even if you weren't my sister, I'd never attack someone like that just for my own benefit."

His sister finally opens her eyes and lifts her head, "Onii-chan…" He smiles warmly, and her eyes tear up as she clutches her hands in front of her chest, "Thank you."

He blushes slightly and glances away as he rubs the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry, that came off sounding sort of arrogant, didn't it? It's a bad habit."

His sister shakes her head with a small smile, "No, it made me happy to hear that from Onii-chan…"

He smiles lightly, then suddenly remembers the reason they were having this conversation in the first place, "Crap! We're wasting time, weren't we? Yui, we're going to run. Lead the way."

His daughter pops her head out of his pocket with a wide smile, "Roger!"

He reaches out for one of her hands, "Let me borrow your hand…" He grabs her wrist firmly, but not to the point that it would be uncomfortable and turns back around, "Let's go!"

Without hesitation he turns back around and takes off as fast as he can, his sister screaming in shock as she's yanked off her feet. With how fast he's going, she ends up being parallel to the ground and doesn't once drag across it.

He followed Yui with total trust as she led them through the twisting and turning cave system. It's not long before he sees a orcs spawning, and his sister nervously stammers out, "U-Uh, m-monsters!"

His sister screams again when she realizes he isn't slowing down, but he weaves his way through them, carefully avoiding their heavy clubs despite the speed, then glances back as his sister, smiling lightly when he sees her eyes clenched shut. The mobs attempt to give chase, but he's simply too fast. Technically speaking, aggroing a bunch of mobs like this is consisted very bad manners, considering any unwary party in their path would likely be _annihilated_ , but given the circumstances he doesn't care much.

Thankfully, he sees the rapidly growing white light indicating the end of the tunnel without them running across any other parties, "There's the exit!"

Without slowing in the slightest, he launches them out away from the cliff the exit was apparently on as soon as they're clear of the cave. His sister stares with wide eyes and a gaping mouth at the view below them, and he quickly opens his wings to go straight into a glide and preserve their momentum. His sister, on the other hand, flails uselessly for a moment, dragging him down slightly before she finally gathers enough of her wits to pull out her wings. She immediately catches an updraft that nearly yanks her hand out of his, but he holds on tight until her flight stabilizes.

She let's out a sigh of relief and glances behind them. Following suit, he sees more than a few orcs falling off of the cliff behind them, then turns his smile back to his sister. As though she can feel his gaze, she turns back to him only a split second later with an annoyed expression, "That took years off my life!"

He laughs lightly, "It saved time though."

She purses her lips, "Honestly…" Then she seems to notice something and her eyes widen with slight awe. Turning, his own mouth drops open as he sees the absolutely _massive_ , and admittedly beautiful, World Tree already looming over them despite the distance. It had already seemed huge from the Sylph territory, but the closer they got, the more they truly began to understand it's size. It was so huge in fact, that it seemed like it was a massive pillar supporting the sky, rather than reaching for something forever out of reach. Seeing it now, he really couldn't imagine what it would be like to stand at its base. It was probably an intimidating sight.

For a moment they just stare in shock, then he clears his throat and turns to his sister, "So, where exactly will the talks be taking place?"

His sister finally shakes her shock off, "Let me see..." She opens her menu, navigating it quickly. Looking it over for a moment, she points forward, but a bit off to the left, "To the northeast, near that mountain."

Kirito nods seriously, "How much time do we have left?"

His sister is tense with worry, "Twenty minutes."

He clutches his jaw, the mountain seeming way too far off to make it in time, but this _matters_ to his sister, so he absolutely _refuses_ to give up until he has to, "Then we'll have to push it if we want to make it."

Without another word, he accelerates to his top speed, his sister quickly following suit, actually able to keep up with his slower air speed.

After a tense fifteen minutes, he breaks the silence, "I don't know if we'll make it there before the Salamanders."

His sister nods sharply, "I know. Even if we can warn them, we'll barely get the Lords out, or all die together in battle."

He frowns heavily, but a moment later Yui tensely speaks up, "Player signals! A group of sixty-eight players is ahead. That's probably the Salamander attack force." He shares a look with his sister as they slow down. Passing above a low cloud, glimmers of red below catch his attention, and his eyes widen slightly as he realizes it's the Salamanders. Yui suddenly points ahead to a small plateau, "Fourteen more players are up ahead. Most likely the Sylph and Cait Sith diplomats. Fifty seconds until they make contact."

His sister's expression turns to sorrowful acceptance, "We didn't make it in time. Thanks, Onii-chan, but this is far enough. You go to the World Tree. I'm going to try and save Sakuya." Then she smiles at him happily, "It wasn't for long, but it was fun playing with you."

Thinking quickly, he rapidly murmurs to her, "Running away isn't really my style." Then he smiles tensely, "Besides, I've got a plan. It's not a good one, but it's crazy enough that it just might work anyway, so when we get there, stick close to the Lords and protect them. I'll handle the Salamanders. I know you're bad at acting, but _try_ not to react to anything I say, act like you already knew, ok?"

Leafa glances at him in confusion, "Wha- Onii-chan, what are you-"

He shakes his head and pushes her towards the meeting, "There's no time! Go to the Lords!"

Without another word, she picks up speed, hurrying to do as he'd instructed. He takes a deep breath and centers himself, pulling on a poker face he hasn't used since the day the term Beater was invented. Having gathered himself, he takes off at top speed, briefly overtaking his sister before slamming into the ground, feet first this time thankfully, with enough force to create a loud 'BOOM' and kick up a cloud of dust. Taking one last deep breath, he gathers up an aura of command and confidence, lifting his gaze towards where the force of Salamanders had formed up to attack. The dust begins to settle and he stares down the gathered Salamanders in an unimpressed manner. It was time for the show.

* * *

(1): I didn't actually come up with this. The idea of being able to 'feel' their data being referenced is given by Kirito in the light novels. It's not the first time I've used ideas from the novels that were cut from the anime, I do it all the time actually, but I felt like I should throw that out there this time.


	32. Salamanders and Elephant Gods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I once again chose to go with the light novels version of events, as such there's an entire section that was removed from the anime that takes place between the fight with Eugene and their arrival at Alne that we'll be going over, so if you're confused about that second part of this chapter, that's what that is.

Kirito stares down the gathered Salamanders once the dust from his landing clears, then calls out in his most commanding tone, "Lower your weapons! I want to talk to your commander!"

The Salamanders part like the red sea and a large man drifts to the front of the attack force, and Kirito flies up towards him. The man stares him down harshly, "What's a lowly Spriggan doing here? I'm going to kill you regardless of your answer, but in honor of the bravery you're displaying, I will speak with you first."

Kirito lifts his head, proudly meeting the man's eyes, refusing to allow anyone to look down on him. If he allowed such a thing, he would not be worthy to call himself Marzanna's mate. Without a bit of hesitation, and with every ounce of his confidence, he states in a firm no nonsense manner, "My name is Kirito. I'm an ambassador for the Spriggan-Undine alliance. After we heard of the Cait Sith-Sylph alliance, I was sent to see if they would be agreeable to joining our two alliances. If you attack this meeting, I can assume you desire a full-scale war with all four races, correct?"

The Salamander's commander seemed entirely unconvinced and unimpressed, "An Undine-Spriggan alliance?" Then he smirks at Kirito, "And you, without a single guard, are their ambassador?'

Kirito simply replies to the smirk and words with a sharp grin, "I don't need any. Besides, I'm merely here to see if the Sylph and Cait Sith would be open to a trade agreement. However, if the talks are disrupted, it will be much worse. The four races will ally against the Salamanders."

The man had briefly lost his smirk as Kirito talked, but his thoughtful expression shifted back into the arrogant one after a moment, "You're all alone, wearing horrible gear. You can't expect me to believe you." He lifted an arm and slowly draws his rather large two handed sword, holding it in front of him with both hands before continuing, "If you can withstand my assault for thirty seconds, I will believe you are an ambassador."

Kirito draws his own swords as he raises to be level with the man, sarcastically saying, "That's generous of you…" Then he smiles confidently, "Easily doable. As I said, there's a reason I don't travel with guards. They just slow me down."

The Salamander commander snorts, but then one of his men hesitantly pipes up, "Err, General Eugene? A thought occurs. This guy  _must_  have seen us preparing to attack before he revealed himself and he  _still_  stuck around, even though he only has himself and that busty chick he showed up with."

Kirito's gaze snaps to the  _dead man walking_  and snarls out, "Let me ask you something, how did you learn of this meeting? Probably a spy, right? So how did the Spriggan-Undine alliance know? I'll tell you how, because that  _busty chick_ , as you so  _ **eloquently**_  put it, is my IRL baby sister. You. Are. Dead. I don't care how the rest of this plays out, I  _will_  be taking your  _god damned_ _ **head**_."

There was a pregnant pause in which the man  _courageously_  tries to hide behind some of his teammates to get away from the aura of death and destruction Kirito was projecting towards him. Doesn't work out so well, considering the player's teammates hastily push him away.

The moment is broken however, by General Eugene snaping out, "Enough!" He glares at Kirito, practically oozing murderous intent, " _ **I**_  am your opponent!"

Kirito refocuses on Eugene, and for a few moment they just tensely stare each other down, but then the clouds start shifting, a ray of light traveling over Eugene. As it creeps up his sword he suddenly twists it slightly. It's a subtle movement, but it shines the sunlight right onto Kirito's eyes, forcing him to narrow them, and in his moment of distraction Eugene lunges forward, swinging his sword down on Kirito. Reacting instinctively he brings one of his swords up in a block, making absolutely zero unnecessary or excesses movements.

However, to his surprise, the moment Eugene's sword made contact with his, it seemed to turn to vapor, moving right through his block as though it was nonexistent before solidifying on the other side, slamming right into his chest with enough force to send him crashing into a rock formation below, kicking up a large cloud of dust in the process.

He moves away from the rocks and restabilizes his flight instinctively as his sister incredulously shouts, "What on earth was that?!"

Another voice rapidly explains without hesitation, but in a tense tone, "That blade is The Demonic Sword Gram, and it has a bonus skill. Ethereal Shift. It allows it to phase whenever someone tries to block or parry with a shield or sword. It's part of the reason Eugene is thought to be  _the_  strongest player in the game, though don't let that fool you, he's definitely skilled as well."

Kirito shakes the last of his disorientation off,  _'Phase Shift, huh? There's always_ _ **something**_ _to balance out an ability like that. I'd bet money that its weakness is…'_

Done with his brief strategizing, he shoots out of the dust, clashing with Eugene ferociously. Eugene actually grins as they lock swords, "Oh? I'm amazed you're still alive."

Forcefully disengaging their lock, Kirito immediately begins attacking with both of his swords. Eugene is in fact, at least a bit skilled though, and manages to block his first two blows before attempting to counterattack with an overhead strike. Kirito could easily twist out of the way, but he wants to make sure he was correct about his assumption regarding Ethereal Shift,  _needs_  to know if he needs to change his strategy. Thus he holds his ground, swinging one sword out in a 'block' even as he brings his other weapon up.

For a brief second, Eugene sneers as though questioning Kirito's intelligence, but another split second later Kirito's theory is proven true. The sword predictably shifts through his first blade, only to be stopped by his second sword with a resounding 'CLANG'. Kirito immediately capitalizes on the fact his first weapon is inside  _Eugene's_  guard, rather than the other way around, and shifts his block into a heavy blow that sends Eugene careening backward before he manages to stabilize his flight.

Eugene stares at him with wide eyes, "How…"

Kirito huffs lightly, "It's incredibly simple actually. I figured with an ability like that, there had to be  _something_  to counterbalance it. Namely, Ethereal Shift only works  _once_  per an attack. All anyone with a shield, or a second sword like me, needs to do is have enough brains and skill to realize that you can  _easily_  purposely trigger the ability with a weapon, block with your shield or second weapon and voilà, it's  _their_  weapon inside  _your_  guard rather than the other way around. Honest, that  _amazing_  sword of yours is actually more of a liability than anything. You literally can't attack against someone who knows how to beat it and has the reflexes to do so. Such as myself."

Eugene just continues to gape at him in the suddenly deafening silence, and Kirito glances around. Eugene it would seem, was far from the only one shocked at the revelation, but it's him that Kirito returns his gaze to with exasperation, "Seriously? Are you honestly trying to tell me that  _no one_  has figured out something so  _simple_? Surely you've come up against someone else who figured it out?" Eugene slowly shakes his head as he glances down at his sword in astonishment, and Kirito sighs, "That's just  _pathetic_. And it's making me begin to lose my faith in humanity and it's intelligence that my girlfriend has worked so hard to restore…" Trailing off with slight irritation for a moment, he shakes his head, then smirks slightly at Eugene, saying in a sarcastically generous manner, "If you've got a spare, I'd be happy to wait a moment while you change out that  _garbage_  for a proper weapon. Although I'm pretty sure it's been thirty seconds by now."

Having pulled himself together, Eugene snarks back, "How  _generous_  of you. It doesn't matter. I've changed my mind and decided to kill you."

Kirito nods lightly, "I see." There's a brief pause, then Kirito gives him an expectant look, "Well?... I wasn't joking. Go ahead and change your weapon. After all, it doesn't prove anything if I beat you when you have such a hindrance."

Eugene seems genuinely shocked that Kirito is content to wait and simply allow it, but after another slight pause, he hesitantly opens his menu, then navigates it as fast as possible, as though worried that Kirito will attempt to capitalize on the moment of weakness. Kirito doesn't move at all of course, which seems to surprise Eugene further.

Once the Salamander has a different weapon in hand Kirito smirks at him, "Better? Good. Not that it'll help you."

By now Eugene is eyeing Kirito in a baffled manner, as though he's something strange that Eugene has never encountered and can't quite figure out. Which Kirito supposed was true about basically everyone he and Marzanna met. Eugene snorts at the words, "We'll see about that."

Yes, they would. In fact, now that Kirito knew no one could say Eugene had a liability holding him back, it would be over quickly. Not bothering to voice those thoughts, Kirito simply bares his teeth in a vicious grin before launching himself at Eugene and into the motions of the dual sword skill The Eclipse. As he manually goes through the motions, he gives Eugene no chance to attack, forcing him to desperately dodge and block. However, Kirito was used to sparring with Hanna, used to being forced to catch her if he wanted to have any hope of victory, and on the fourteenth attack, he blows Eugene's guard wide open and immediately begins slicing into him with ferocity as he continues going through The Eclipse as fast as he can.

With a growl, Eugene suddenly strained his chest forward, and a small dome of fire surrounded him, likely some sort of last resort special ability of his armor, and Kirito is forced back when the done explodes. Eugene immediately tears through the smoke up towards him, weapon ready to attack, "Die!"

However, Kirito merely shifts to the side the tiniest bit, allowing the sword to pass him by harmlessly before thrusting both blades down into his chest, driving Eugene back towards the ground. Eugene's health quickly drops into the yellow, and he attempts to push Kirito off of him. Kirito backs up a tiny bit to get free of the hand on his face, then delivers two quick slashes, before lifting one of his swords above his head for a heavy downwards slash that cleaves Eugene in half, his body briefly separating into two pieces before his armor lets off one last massive explosion. As the fire dissipates, Kirito sees Eugene's Remain Light, engulfed in flames, falling down towards the ground.

There's a heavy silence following the dispersal of the flames and their roar for approximately fifteen seconds, then he hears the sound of a fan opening down by Leafa as a woman's voice proclaims, "Splendid! Simply splendid!"

A younger sounding but also female voice from the same direction quickly adds, "Wow, nice fight!"

A cheer from the Cait Sith and Sylphs follows those proclamations, then the other players, Sylph, Cait Sith, and Salamander alike all begin to murmur amongst each other excitedly. Kirito absently sheaths his swords, then turns towards the Cait Sith and Sylph Lords, the latter of which was obviously Sakuya, "I don't suppose any of you know revival magic?"

Sakuya shares a glance with the teenage looking girl who seemed to be the Cait Sith Lord, then turned back to him with a nod, "I do."

Kirito drifts around to be between the group he was protecting and Eugene's End Flame as he watches as her wings appear and she drifts up to where Eugene's Remain Light had come to a stop, still hovering rather far above the ground. She chanted quickly but calmly, then blue light drifted from her hands, wrapping around the flame and causing it to expand before it dissipated to reveal Eugene, hovering in the air with a contemplative expression.

Sakuya drifts behind Kirito as Eugene rolls his shoulders and stretches, likely to dissipate the discomfort from both Kirito's attacks and turning into an End Flame, which couldn't be pleasant. Then the man gazes at him thoughtfully, "... You're an excellent fighter. The best I've ever seen."

Kirito smiles at him, "Thanks. You aren't so bad yourself. Not many people can hold out for fourteen of my attacks before their guard breaks. It's just unlucky for you that for all that I prefer a strength reliant fighting style that I'm used to having to catch my agility preferring girlfriend in our spars."

Eugene nods slowly, "It's nice to know that my skill up to this point wasn't an illusion then. With how one-sided that fight was, I'd begun to wonder…" Then he shakes his head, "I had no idea there was someone like you among the  _Spriggans_ , of all races. The world is a much bigger place than I thought."

Kirito nods, "So, do you believe me then?"

Eugene stares him down with narrowed eyes, "... You've got the skill to back up the claim, that's for sure… but my instincts are telling me otherwise."

Kirito sighs, "Yea, I was afraid of that. You don't become that good of a fighter without developing some good instincts." He shrugs in an unconcerned manner, "Oh well. You caught me. It was a total bluff."

Eugene's eyes widen, "... You've got balls kid, bluffing like that under those circumstances. Though without the threat of a four race alliance against the Salamanders…"

Kirito tilts his head, "Then you're choosing to attack?" Eugene hesitates briefly with narrowed eyes, then nods. Kirito however, just gives him a sharp grin, " _I see_. Oh well. Can't blame me for this then. I _tried_  to go the peaceful, diplomatic route. Guess we're doing this the  _easy_  way instead."

Eugene's eyes widen and there are exclamations of confusion at his words, but he's already raising a hand above his head and reciting an already familiar spell with excitement, "Seā urāza nōto diputo, ren herubegūru."

A tornado kicks up around him as his body twists and grows in only a couple of seconds. He simply enjoys the natural feeling form of the dragon for a moment, slightly worried about the fact he seems to be growing rapidly addicted to using it. Then he shoots forward, not even bothering to wait for the wind to die down. He twists around Eugene without touching the man, instead choosing to ram through the throng of Salamanders, killing four of them in his first run. He absently realizes that Kagemune is in the attack force, and is calmly drifting away, once again clearly not intending to fight Kirito. He's beginning to think that Kagemune is the smartest player amongst the Salamanders.

Pushing those thoughts away and twisting back around quickly, he snakes his way around and through the now panicking players, managing to take out another nine before Eugene shouts in a panicked voice, "That's enough!" Kirito pauses in his assault to turn to the man, who is once again staring with wide eyes, "A-Alright… We'll go."

Kirito grins, fire curling up from his mouth, "A wise choice. A bit of advice Eugene. Never underestimate a Spriggan, and don't pick a fight with me."

Eugene sighs tiredly, "That… is rapidly becoming obvious."

With a nod, he flies back over to his men, and he leads the nervous players past Kirito, who watches them intently for a moment before quickly lunging forward and biting the head off of one. Eugene whirls around at the terrified screams, but Kirito just stares him down, "I  _told_  you I was going to take his head. Nobody calls my baby sister a 'busty chick'. He was asking for it."

Eugene nods wearily, then quickly takes the remainder of his men and flies away like the devil himself is chasing them. Kirito watches them go for a minute, then lazily turns and drifts down to the gaping Cait Sith and Sylphs. His sister however, gives him an unimpressed look, "Just had to be a show-off, didn't you?"

Kirito reluctantly shifts back into his human form, then shrugs. At the sudden sensation of electricity, pins and needles, and a dull ache, he carefully stretches his body with a frown, as he absently replies to his sister, "What can I say? I hate being underestimated."

His sister frowns at him, "... Are you ok Onii-chan? That spell seems to mess with you a bit."

He sighs, "Just pins and needles. To be fair, I  _am_  completely changing my form, even if it's just in a game."

His sister stares at him for a moment more, then shakes her head with a slight laugh, "You're insane, you know that Onii-chan? Bluffing like that in that situation…"

He grins lightly at her, "I get that a lot actually."

They share a laugh at that, until someone clears their throat suddenly. Turning, they see Sakuya off to the side, looking terribly confused, "Sorry to interrupt, but would you mind explaining what's going on?"

Kirito glances at Leafa, then shrugs, "Don't ask me. I just came because it was something that mattered to my sister. She said she was your friend, and that she was going to try to help you. I couldn't very well let my little sister run off into a situation like that all on her own, now could I?"

Leafa sighs at that, "He's totally lying. He knows as much about the situation as I do."

Kirito shrugs again, "Sylph matter. Doesn't concern a _lowly_  Spriggan such as myself."

His sister gives him an exasperated look, then turns to Sakuya with a shake of her head and begins explaining. She tells them everything she knows about the situation, though some of it was simply speculation on Leafa's part and not fact, as such, it takes a while, and by the time she's finished, the shorter sixteen hour day Alfheim has is drawing to a close, the sun painting the sky gold and the valley red.

Sakuya sighs as Leafa finally finishes explaining, then turns her narrowed eyes towards the ground in thought, "I see… I did sense some degree of irritation in Sigurd's attitude."

Leafa's brow furrows, "Irritation? At what?"

Sakuya turns her gaze to Leafa, "He probably wasn't able to accept that, in terms of power, we were falling behind the Salamanders. Sigurd is a man to whom power is very important. Not just for his character stats and abilities… He desired power as a player as well."

Leafa shakes her head, "Even so, why would he spy for the Salamanders? Doing so would only weaken the Sylph further…"

That was a question Kirito had been wondering about as well, so he pays closer attention as Sakuya sighs, "You've heard about the 5.0 update they'll be releasing soon, haven't you? Apparently, they're finally putting in a reincarnation system."

Understanding washes over his sister's face, "Then…"

Sakuya nods, "Mortimer, the Salamander Lord, put him up to it. They likely struck a deal, my head in return for Mortimer allowing him to reincarnate as a Salamander. Understandably, in order to stop spies from simply reincarnating, you have to have the Lord of that territories permission. However, reincarnation is supposedly going to cost a lot of Yuld, for both the player and the territory their joining, so I doubt Mortimer would've upheld his part of the bargain. Besides, who would want a player that they  _know_  will stab them and their territory in the back for personal gain?"

His sister turns her gaze towards the ground thoughtfully, and he continues watching her for another moment, having a rather good idea what was going through her head. She was likely wondering if he hadn't joined if Sigurd would've approached her to join him, or more accurately, whether or not she would've agreed.

After letting out a sigh, he casually says, "ALO really is a sinister game designed to test the desires of players." Everyone's attention shifts to him, so he gives them a mocking smile, "The designer must have bad character."

Sakuya chuckles lightly with an amused smile, "Yes, that's right."

Leafa briefly gives him a grateful smile, having taken his words as the comfort they were meant to be, then turns back to Sakuya and bites her lip, "So what will you do, Sakuya?"

At those words her amusement slips away, replaced by the calculating look of those in power. Then she glances at Alicia Rue, the Cait Sith Lord, whose name he'd picked up during the discussion, "Rue, you've raised your dark magic skill, right?" Alicia's ears twitch a bit at that as she hums in confirmation. Without hesitation, Sakuya turns to her, "Then please open a «Moonlight Mirror» to Sigurd."

Alicia nods, "Sure, but the sun is still out, so it won't last that long."

Sakuya shakes her head, "This won't take long."

Alicia nods, then steps back and lifts both hands, casting the spell with steady confidence, despite the fact it was one of those spells with almost twenty words. As soon as she's finished, a starry dome appears around them, and moonlight pours out of nowhere, immediately collecting in front of Alicia and condensing into a mirror. For a moment, the mirror's surface was wavy and looked like it was filled with smoke, but then the mirror's surface smoothed out and the smoke cleared to reveal an elaborate room decorated in green and gold, with large banners displaying the symbol of the Sylph. There was also a large desk, Sigurd was sitting at with his legs crossed and propped up, a hand behind his head, and a glass of what looked like wine in the other, with a rather satisfied grin stretching across.

Kirito would bet money that it was the office belonging to the Sylph Lord,  _not_  Sigurd's. The way Sakura's eyebrow twitched before she plastered on a fake smile and spoke was all the confirmation he needed, "Sigurd."

Sigurd drops the wine glass and shoots to his feet in shock, "S-Sakuya?"

She nods lightly, "Indeed. Unfortunately, I'm still alive."

Sigurd gapes in shock, "Why?" Then he seems to realize what he'd said and quickly back tracks, "I mean, what happened at the meeting?"

Sakuya's smile widens slightly, "It concluded successfully. We must still sign the treaty though."She closes her eyes as though in thought, "Oh right… We had an unexpected guest."

Sigurd seems to grow more nervous at that, "A g-guest?"

She opens her eyes to pin him with a look, though she never stops smiling, "General Eugene sends his regards."

Sigurd's eyes widen further as he pales, then he seems to notice him and his sister in the background, "Le- Leafa? So that's it! Those incompetent lizards!" Then he smirks slightly, mockingly asking, "Well? What will you do, Sakuya? Fine me? Kick me out of the government?" He turns away with a confident smirk, But without me running the military, how long will your rule last?"

Sakuya shakes her head, her "No, if you cannot stand being a Sylph, I thought I would grant your request."

That forces him to turn back around in shock, "W-What?" Sakuya quickly opens and manipulates her noticeably larger menu under Sigurd's horrified stare, and after a moment a notification of some sort appears in front of him, he glances at it before glaring at Sakuya, "Are you insane?! Me? You're banishing me?"

Sakuya's smile finally disappears as she starts him down furiously, "That's right. You can wander the neutral territory as a renegade. Hopefully, you will find something new there to occupy your time."

Sigurd stares at her furiously for a moment, then seeming to forget it was just a communication spell, lunges as though to attack Sakuya. At that moment though, the mirror dissolves into light. It was a shame, Kirito would've enjoyed seeing the bastard that put a hit on him and his sister run smack into the mirror like the moron he was."

There's a brief pause as the dome dissipates, then his sister hesitantly asks, "Sakuya?"

The woman in question turns to them, "I thank you, Leafa. I'm very happy you came to save me."

Leafa puts her hands on her hips, "Of course! You're my friend!... Although, I ended up not doing anything…" Then she lifts an arm and gestures to him, "You should thank Onii-chan."

Sakuya nods, "That's true. So… Your Leafa's older brother?" Kirito nods and Sakuya hesitates slightly, "Forgive me, but you seem a bit crazy. Bluffing like you did back there…"

Kirito chuckles, "Like I said. I get that a lot. I have the philosophy that whenever I have a bad hand, I always raise the pot… A philosophy my girlfriend shares, and that drives all of our friends nuts. They're of the opinion that we're both insane…"

Alicia puts her face really close to his, studying him rather intently, "For a big liar, you're really strong. Are you the Spriggans' secret weapon?"

Kirito chuckles, "Of course not. I'm just a wandering mercenary on a trip with my sister."

That draws a laugh from Alicia, then she smiles at him slyly, "If you aren't tied down anywhere, why not be a mercenary for the Cait Sith? You'll get three meals a day, plus snacks and a nap."

Sakuya suddenly appears on his other side, but like Alicia, she leaves a small bit of distance between them, likely trying to make sure he didn't think they were hitting on him, given how many times he's mentioned Marzanna, "Hey Rue, no cutting in line. He came to rescue the Sylph originally, so that should give us the right to first negotiations. Besides, his sister is a Sylph."

Alicia suddenly leans around him, "No fair, Sakuya-chan! Using his sister as bait!"

He backs up a step, "Ah, actually, that… would be something I'd have to discuss with my girlfriend, depending on…"

Depending on if he could save her, and if she wanted to play Alfheim, but he couldn't very well say that. If she didn't want to play Alfheim, which would be reasonable and understandable, he'd probably just come back and become an actual wandering mercenary, but if she decided to play… Well, when it came to them where one went, the other wasn't far.

He smiles presently at the Lords, "I appreciate the offers nonetheless. However, we're going to the World Tree right now."

Sakuya raises one delicate eyebrow, "Oh? That's a shame." Then her gaze shifts to his sister, "So you're going to Alne, Leafa? Sightseeing? Or…"

Leafa shakes her head, "I'll be staying with the Sylph, at least for now. I may end up leaving to go with Onii-chan eventually, just not now. I don't know when I'll be back though. I might explore the world a bit before I do… Despite playing for almost the whole year it's been out, I've seen remarkably little of Alfheim."

Sakuya nods in relief, "I understand. I'm glad to hear I won't be losing you at least, given everything that's going on. Make sure you come back." Then she grins, "And make sure you bring him with you."

Alicia pokes her head forward, "Stop by my place on the way back. We'll throw you two a party."

Leafa nods slightly with a smile. The Lords move away to stand in front of their respective groups, then they both bow slightly as Sakuya formally thanks them, "Thank you so much for coming today, Leafa, Kirito-kun." They both straighten with smiles before Sakuya continues, "Had we fallen today, we'd never have caught up to the Salamanders. I'd like to thank you somehow."

Kirito shakes his head, "No, it was nothing. Like I said, I only came because Leafa said you were her friend, so it mattered to her."

His sister smiles at him, then seems to realize something and turns back to the Lords, "Hey, Sakuya, Alicia-san, wasn't the goal of this alliance to venture up the World Tree?"

Sakuya nods, "Yes, eventually."

Leafa nods, "I'd like you to let us come with you. And as soon as possible!"

The Lords share a contemplative look, then smile lightly at each other, though it's Sakuya that responds, "I have no objections. Actually, we'd be quite grateful. But why are you in such a hurry?"

His sister turns to him in question, and he sighs tiredly, "I came to this world to reach the top of Yggdrasil, in order to find two people that are precious to me that might be there. I can't reach them in the real world, so I have to see, no matter what. I honestly couldn't care less about the Fairy King Oberon or infinite flight, but I  _must_  get there, so soon as possible. That's why Leafa is going with me."

Alicia bites her lip, "But it will probably take time to prepare all the raid member's' equipment. More than just a day or two…"

Kirito sighs, "I understand… You're right of course. For now, I just want to reach the base of the tree, and we'll work out the rest ourselves." Then something occurs to him, and he opens his menu. His first thought was to give almost all of it over, but he could practically  _hear_  Hanna getting onto him about not being  _too_  generous, so he leaves himself a decent sum to work with, then materializes the rest, "Here. This should help a bit in the way of funds."

Alicia walks forward and accepts it with a smile, only to stagger and drop the bag as soon as he lets go before picking it back up with a hold that was a bit like a hug. She peeks inside in curiosity, then turns with wide eyes to the other Lord, "S-Sakuya-chan! Look!"

Sakuya looks at her weirdly, then walks over before her own jaw drops, "100,000 Yuld mithril pieces?!  _All of it?!_ " Then she turns towards him unsurely, "It's almost impossible to earn this kind of money without fighting Evil God Class mobs in Jötunheimr... Are you certain about this? With this money, you could build a castle on prime land."

Kirito shakes his head, "I don't mind. I don't need it anymore."

It was almost his and Hanna's entire savings from Aincrad, but it was mostly useless to him now. They had more use for it than he did. Alicia smiles widely at him, "This will get us really close to the amount we need."

Sakuya nods, also smiling at him, "We'll ready our equipment as quickly as we can. And when we're ready, we'll call you."

Kirito smiles, happy to have a backup plan in case he can't reach Marzanna and Asuna on his own, "Thank you."

They say their final goodbyes to the two Lords and their groups, then Kirito turns to his sister with a grin, "Well, we should hurry and get back on track to Alne! The sun is going to set soon."

Without another word, he pulls out his wings and takes off, his sister catching up with him a moment later with a sigh, "Ah, I'm already tired though…"

Kirito glances down and to the right then tilts his head, "... That may be because it's already one in the morning."

Leafa jerks, "What?!" He sees her eyes flicker down, clearly checking her clock, before her mouth falls open, "You've gotta be kidding me!"

He glances at her, "Do you have plans or something tomorrow?"

Leafa sighs, "No, not really… It's just, the latest I've ever stayed up playing was two…"

He nods, "To be honest, I'm getting pretty tired too. With Alne so close I'm tempted to just push through…" Then he shakes his head, "We're really close anyway, so let's just stop in the next town."

His sister nods tiredly in agreement. It takes them another twenty minutes before they come across a town, and Leafa smiles widely upon seeing it, "Great! We can log out now!"

Kirito shares a smile with her before they both increase their speed, eager to log off and get some sleep, as well as a shower in Kirito's case. Landing, he and his sister begin to make their way towards the largest building, likely the inn. Even as they grow closer and his sister speeds up, he can't help but slow down with a frown as he notices how empty the town is.

His sister seems to take notice that he's falling behind after a moment and turns to him impatiently, "Onii-chan! Come on!"

He shakes his head slightly, jogging to catch up, then walks next to her as they approach the largest building, "Sorry, it's just… Don't you think it's a bit weird? There's  _no one_  here. Not even a single NPC."

His sister glances at him, then starts looking around, slowing down and frowning as she sees what he's talking about, "Huh… That's… weird. It's almost like-" Suddenly she gasps, "Onii-chan! Wait-"

He turns to her in surprise, but it's already too late, he'd already been reaching for the door of the largest building. Just like that, all of the buildings shimmer momentarily as an illusion drops, revealing fleshy lumps protruding from the ground, and the ground below them splits in half to reveal a large mouth. The flesh below them shifts quickly, drawing them into the mouth before either of them can even attempt to escape.

Kirito wishes he could say that their 'journey' through the monsters insides was quick, that it only took a few seconds, but it doesn't, it's roughly three minutes before they reach their 'destination'. On the plus side, their destination  _wasn't_  stomach, on the downside, when they're ejected from the other side, they're not only covered in mucus and slime but for some reason their wings don't work either. They fall straight down before landing harshly on a deep snow bank. Thankfully, like water, as long as the snow is deep enough the system will consider it able to break your fall without taking damage, so even though they fell hundreds of meters, they didn't die and have to start all the way from Sylvein again

Pulling himself up, he turns to look at his sister, only to find her staring at something with wide eyes, and before he can ask what's wrong she lunges over and covers his mouth bringing a finger to her lips in the universal sign to tell someone to be quiet, then shakily points to whatever she'd been staring at. Shifting his gaze, he sees a mob, as tall as a five story building, ambling through the snow. They stay quiet and hidden until it's long out of sight, then Leafa sighs in relief and drags him off. They take refuge in the first place they come across, a small building that looks a bit like a shrine, his sister dragging him around the fire in the center of the room before sinking down against the back wall.

Sitting down next to her, he gives her a look of confusion, "What was that thing? Where are we anyway? And for that matter, what was that worm thing?"

His sister sighs, "The worm thing was a mimic monster. As you saw, they pretend to be towns to draw players in. It's actually pretty easy to tell a mimic from an actual town, there's never any NPCs, and mimics obviously don't show up on the map as a town, but I was so eager to log off and get some sleep... Usually falling for a mimics trap ends up with you dying in its stomach, but… That one seems to have dropped us into Jötunheimr."

He tilts his head, "Jötunheimr? That'd be this place then, right? I thought it was just a big cave…"

His sister sighs, "Well technically speaking, it  _is_  a cave, but it's actually called the Underground because it's almost as large as the overworld, Alfheim. Jötunheimr was added in a massive update about a month ago, and it's the most difficult field in the game. The only mobs that spawn here are those unique to Jötunheimr, Evil God Class mobs, which are  _the_  strongest mobs in the game, minus bosses, and even then, I've heard of them rarely spawning with boss level stats…"

Kirito nods slowly, "So… How do we get out of here?"

Leafa gives him a tight smile, "And that right there is the reason I dragged you here instead of to the exit. There are four known ways in and out of Jötunheimr. If you use Alne as a starting point, there's one in each of the cardinal directions, with the direction we were coming from, and how close we were to the World Tree, the nearest exits should be either the one to the south or the one to the west, but… Well, they'd be quite a distance away, and the field is littered with Evil God mobs,  _and_  none of the races except for Imps can fly underground, so we'd have to go on foot. We'd never make it."

Kirito purses his lips in thought, "Those Evil God mobs, how strong-"

His sister huffs, "Don't even think about it, Onii-chan. When Jötunheimr first opened, the Salamanders sent a huge raid party, even larger than the one we just encountered, with Eugene leading them. They were wiped out almost immediately upon encountering their first Evil God Class, and I heard even Eugene didn't last ten seconds before dying. If we were to try to make it to the stairs, running that far of a distance would undoubtedly draw the attention of at least one mob, and we'd be dead before we could even do anything to it. If however, by some miracle we  _did_  manage to reach one of the exits, we'd  _ **still**_  have to fight at least one of those things, seeing as there is an Evil God Class guardian at the base of each entrance into Jötunheimr."

Kirito thunks his head back against the wall behind him with a heavy sigh, "... In other words, we're screwed."

Leafa nods slowly, "Basically. And we can't even log out, because empty player avatars draw mobs like ants to honey. There was a reason Sakuya thought you'd been in Evil God hunting parties with how much money you have them."

Kirito shrugs, "I only kept what would equal ten of those mithril pieces, but other than that, that was mine and Hanna's entire savings from Aincrad. I figured having a backup plan was better than just holding onto it..." After a moment of continuing to try and think a way out of the situation they'd found themselves in, he sighs, "I guess our best hope is one of those hunting parties…. Well, I suppose I could use the Metamorphosis spell and turn into a dragon again and carry you. I seemed to be able to fly in that form in the Legrue corridor just fine."

His sister sighs, "I don't particularly want to be carried around, but unless we can come up with something else, we're going to have to. When it was added Jötunheimr replaced all of the above ground dungeons as the place with the highest difficulty, so parties coming down here to hunt are kind of rare."

Kirito nods at that, then stands up with a stretch, "Well, unless Yui detects other players?"

However, Yui shakes her head immediately, "No, I'm sorry Papa. There are no players within the range of my detection. I'm sorry Papa. If I'd just been paying attention and realized that 'town' wasn't on the map."

He shakes his head and smiles warmly, "No, it's not your fault Yui. I asked you to warn us of nearby players as a first priority, not find us a town to stay in. The blame is entirely mine and Leafa's."

Yui frowns, "But…"

He reaches out and tickles her neck with one finger, causing her to start giggling madly, "Nu-uh, no buts, and no frowning."

Yui tries to push his finger away, "P-Papa! Stop it, that- that tickles!"

He pauses in his assault, giving her a mock serious look, "Are you going to stop with the silly self-blame and frowning? If not I'll just keep ticking you."

He wiggles his fingers in a threatening manner, and she giggles again, "No, I'm done."

He nods firmly, "Good. Although, you could've saved yourself the trouble if you'd just listened to me from the get go. Papa knows best after all."

Yui shakes her head with a grin, "If you say so Papa, though I think Mama might beg to differ sometimes." Then she gives him a sly grin, "I'm sure she'd be fascinated by your theory though. That is, unless Papa wants to admit that he doesn't  _always_  know best, and thus since he didn't know about the mimic, this isn't his fault either."

He stares his daughter down for a moment, "Sneaky little brat. I can't do that, because then it would have to be all  _Leafa's_  fault."

His sister sighs, drawing their attention back to her, then she gives them a slightly bitter smile, "Well, if you think about it, it  _is_  all my fault. Yui was busy scanning for players and Onii-chan didn't even  _know_  about mimic monsters, but I did. I was just too focused on wanting to sleep to bother using proper precautions."

Kirito shares a glance with his daughter, then pins his sister with a serious look, "Leafa… There is this rather interesting little tidbit that Hanna and I discovered back in Aincrad, something that would still hold true here, seeing as ALO is mostly just a copy of SAO. Do you know what that tidbit is?" His sister hesitates, then shakes her head wearily. He lifts his hands and wiggles his fingers at her in a threatening manner, "Player avatars are ticklish too."

Leafa's eyes widen, then she shoots to her feet and backs up a few steps, holding a hand out in front of her as though to ward him off, "Don't you dare!"

Kirito tilts his head with fake innocence, "Is it your fault we're here?"

Leafa is silent for a moment, then shakes her head with slight amusement before caving, "No…"

Kirito drops his hands and smiles widely, "Well then! We're all in agreement!" His sister nods, but he continues before she can say anything, "The blame rests solely on the evil developers for putting in something that will only really work on newbies or players who are really tired!"

Leafa gives him a bemused look for a moment, "... I was going to say it's all that stupid mimic's fault, but I suppose that's technically true as well…"

Then she shares a glance with Yui and they both giggle slightly at his antics. However, their mirth is suddenly interrupted by a booming sound a short distance away. It seemed to be one of the Evil Gods, and sounded something like 'BORORORO'.

He shares an alarmed look with his sister, and after a moment she bites her lip, "That- That sounded way too close. Close enough that you might not even get a chance to change after leaving…" His sister only seems to think about it for another second before she suddenly gains a determined look, "Onii-chan is the one who has to make it to Alne. I'll distract it while you use that spell. I probably won't be able to buy you more than a few seconds, but-"

He shakes his head and grabs onto her arm to keep her from leaving, "No, I'm not just going to let you do something like that."

Leafa gives him a frustrated look as she starts struggling to pull her arm away, "Onii-chan! I-"

However, Yui suddenly breaks into their conversation, "No, wait. This is rather strange."

Leafa's struggles pause, a look of dread coming over her, "Strange? How so?"

Yui frowns, "There are  _two_  Evil God mobs out there." Both his and Leafa's eyes widen, but before either of them can respond to that in any other manner, Yui tilts her head, "The weird thing is, they're fighting  _each other_."

His sister lets out an exclamation of surprise, but Kirito simply closes his eyes, listening intently. Sure enough, the thunderous footsteps accompanying the first sound of the mob they'd heard wasn't even as it would be if it was running in a straight line, but in the sort of irregular pattern you tend to hear while they move around during a fight.

A moment later he opens his eyes as his sister breaths out in shock, "B-But, mobs fighting each other?  _Evil God Class mobs_?"

Kirito narrows his eyes in thought for a moment, then nods, "Let's go and see. This shrine won't be much of a refuge if they're so close anyway."

His sister hesitates, then nods in agreement, before they cautiously exit the shrine. They didn't have to go far before they spot the mobs. The one they first heard turned out to be a massive vaguely humanoid thing, though it had three faces, which decidedly _weren't_  humanoid, lined up virtually on one massive head, four arms each of which held a massive sword that seemed more like a steel girder, and was twice as tall as the second mob.

The second was twenty meters tall, and seemed to be some sort of mash up of animals. It had large ears, an elephant like trunk, a body as flat as a bun, twenty tentacle like legs, all of which were tipped with a hooked claw of sorts, and was making a high pitched chirping sound that sounded like 'Yurururu'. The end impression was that of an elephant headed jellyfish. It was clear that though the first mob was a humanoid-type, the second was a beast-type mob.

The beast type kept extending some of its claws towards the face of the other mob in a futile attempt to attack, but with its swords, the giant easily blocked or deflected its attempts. On the other hand, the giant's swords easily cut into the jellyfish like mob, it's dark blood so prevalent it was like a mist. It made Kirito a bit uncomfortable, the fact that mobs had blood in Alfheim, because even though they couldn't feel pain, it sometimes felt like you were actually  _hurting_  them.

Next to him, his sister was gaping at the scene, "Wha… What's going on?"

Kirito didn't have any answers for her, so he simply continued to observe the scene. The mobs don't seem to take any notice of them, simply continuing to fight, though the giant definitely seems to be both stronger and faster, whereas threw jellyfish mob seems sluggish and weak.

Then, with a swing of one of its swords, the giant cut off one of the jellyfish's tentacles, and it lands near them with a ground shaking 'boom'. He takes a step back, suddenly weary, "Hey, it's a bit dangerous to stick around, isn't it?"

His sister nods absently, but seems absorbed in the sight before her as the jellyfish cries out as though in pain and attempts to run away. The giant doesn't seem keen to let it though, and simply starts swinging its swords harder. Unable to withstand the blows, the jellyfish cries out and couches on the ground, it's cries gradually getting weaker. The giant continues its assault without mercy, carving into the jellyfish cruelly.

His sister trembles slightly, before pleading with him, "Onii-chan, help it…"

He glances at her unsurely, he has a good idea of what she wants, but… Well, it was better to make sure he understood the lunacy she was asking of him, "Which one?"

His sister gives him a slightly irritated look, "The one being bullied, of course!"

He sighs, "I figured as much, but how do you expect me to do that? You know better than I how strong Evil God Class mobs are."

His sister slumps at the logical question, "I… Well…" However, while she floundered for a response, the giant continued to attack, and the jellyfish's cries grew shriller, causing his sister to panic, "Just do something!"

He sighs, "You say that, but…" Then something clicks in his head and he takes another hard look at the mobs, "... If mob forms have any meaning, and they generally do…" Then he glances around quickly before rapidly asking his daughter, "Yui, is there any water nearby? A lake or a river is fine!"

Without asking for a reason, Yui closes her eyes, nodding almost immediately, "Yes! There's a frozen lake one hundred meters directly north!"

He nods sharply, "Good. Leafa, run there like your life depends on it."

His daughter wisely dives into his pocket, but his sister just gives him a baffled look, "Uh, what?"

Reaching behind him, he pulls a throwing pick out, then holds it over his shoulder with his forefinger and thumb as he takes aim. He throws the small weapon as hard as he can, and it flies true, nailing the giant right in one of its six glowing eyes. With its defense stat, the pick barely makes its health bar visibly decrease, though he's slightly proud that you could tell at all, given that it was just a throwing pick. That said, there wasn't really any time to feel proud because the fact he did any damage at all has the mob stopping its attack and locking its gaze on them, signaling the shift in target.

It stares them down furiously and thunders out that strange 'BOBOBORORORO' again, and Kirito immediately turns and takes off at top speed, kicking up snow in all directions as he shouts at his sister, "Run for your life!"

He barely hears his sister start to run after him before a thunderous roar and booming footsteps sound out as the giant gives chase. His sister shrieks then shouts after him, "W-Wait! Don't just leave me behind you meanie!"

His eye twitches in irritation. First she gets onto him for dragging her along back in the Legrue corridor, now she says he's mean for letting her run on her own? He'd really appreciate it if she made up her freaking mind already. With how fast a person can move in a place like Alfheim, it's only a few seconds after that thought crosses his mind that he feels a subtle change in the ground below him, and he knows even without Yui telling him that they've reached the lake.

He continues on for a few more seconds before applying the brakes, as it were, kicking up a cloud of snow. He turns and catches his sister, staring in the direction they'd come from. His sister gapes at him incredulously, "Just what on earth are you trying to do?!"

He holds his ground even as the giant comes closer, then just barely audible underneath the booming footsteps, he hears the sound he'd been hoping for, 'CRACK' 'CRACK'. With each massive step, the ice begins to break, until with one last mighty 'CRACK', the ice beneath the giant breaks apart completely, and it falls in, sending up a ridiculously large column of water.

His sister desperately mutters, "Come on, just sink like that…"

Of course, that doesn't happen and a moment later one and a half of its faces breaks through the surface, the giant slowly coming closer using two of its hands to swim. It doesn't matter though, that hadn't been the plan anyway, the actual plan was quickly hurrying towards them, so even as his sister tenses up, ready to start running again, he continues to hold his ground.

His sister looks at him desperately, "Onii-chan! We've gotta go! You-"

However, she's cut off by another splash as the jellyfish like mob jumps in. Rather than running away, it had chased after them, and as he'd suspected due to its form, it easily cut through the water before lifting its tentacles and wrapping them around the giant's face and arms.

The giant tries to swing its other two swords at it, but just as  _it_  had the advantage on land, the aquatic mob had the advantage in the water, and just as the jellyfish had moved slowly when not in its natural habitat, its own movement was now so sluggish its blades couldn't cut into the jellyfish.

His sister stares for a moment, "Oh… I- I see… It's a  _jellyfish_ , of course it…"

He gives a triumphant hum of agreement, "Exactly. On land, it needs to use most of its limbs and strength just to support itself, but in the  _water_ … Well, that's a whole other matter."

With a furious chirping noise, the jellyfish mob forces the giant underwater, the violent struggling of the giant throwing water and chunks of ice everywhere. It doesn't seem to phase the jellyfish, which suddenly begins to glow with a bluish white light, which quickly changes to sparks and travels down its tentacles. With the identification ability of the Scanning skill, of which the visually based Search and hearing based Listen were sub-skills of, they could see hundreds of thousands of the giant's health points disappearing with every spark of electricity.

He honestly didn't know what they were, but there were flashes of red light underneath the columns of steam rising up. However, seeing as they didn't seem to have any effect on the jellyfish's health, he ignored them. It was only a minute later, maybe two, in which the violent struggling suddenly stopped and millions of polygons exploded out from under the water, thick enough to momentarily block their vision.

As they cleared away, the jellyfish lifted its many tentacles and waved them around with a victorious chirping cry, "Yururururu!"

Returning its limbs to the water, it smoothly glides through it over to the edge of the ice, then carefully drags itself up, water streaming down from it as it begins to make its way over to them. When it stops right in front of them, he was given the chance to truly appreciate its size. When being towered over by the giant, it had seemed small, it's tentacles looking thin and weak, but now that it was right in front of him, he realized that he wouldn't be able to fully wrap his arms around even the smaller limbs, much less the slightly larger elephant trunk.

No matter how he looked at it though, the head was similar to an elephant, though instead of ears it had hard round bits sticking out that were covered in frills that were likely gills. Its clusters of three large eyes on either side of its face were a bit unnerving, especially since it was staring at them.

Weary of attack, he doesn't dare takes his eyes off it, not even to glance at his sister as he speaks to her, "... So what do we do now? You said to save it, and I saved it, but it  _is_  a mob…"

His sister seemed just as unsure as him, though to be fair, the mob hadn't attacked yet. As though hearing his thoughts and wanting to contradict them, the jellyfish extends its trunk towards them, and Kirito takes a step back quickly, ready to run away again.

However, Yui, who had flown out of his pocket at some point, quickly grabs his ear, tugging lightly on it to stop him, "It's ok, papa. This child is not angry."

The long snout wrapped around them gently, picking them both up and hoisting them above it. It could easily drop them into its mouth and eat them, but luckily it simply dropped them on its back. Seen from even the distance of the ground, its body had seemed smooth, but now up close to it, Kirito realized it was covered with gray hair. Once they're on its back, the jellyfish let's out a pleased chirp, then begins to amble away.

He shares a look with his sister, then tilts his head, "So this is… the start of a quest?"

His sister looks equally as puzzled by the situation, "Well… If this were a quest, when it started we should've gotten a notification and updated the quest window…" Even though they both knew they hadn't gotten any sort of notification, she opens her menu and quickly glances it over, "But since there isn't anything displayed there, this must be an event… That could be highly troublesome."

He sighs, "... You mean if we end up making the wrong choices, right?"

His sister nods, "Precisely. With a quest, there's  _always_  some type of reward at the end, but an event is more like the player participating in a drama. It doesn't necessarily have a happy ending, even if you  _do_  make the best choices available."

Kirito tilts his head, "So we may end up with a bad ending no matter what we do?" His sister gives a sullen nod, "... You don't seem to like events."

His sister shakes her head, "I don't  _dislike_  them, per say, it's just… The last time I participated in an event, it was a horror themed one for Halloween… I made a bad choice and ended up dying by being boiled in a witch's pot."

Kirito gives her a tight smile, "What an…  _interesting_  game."

She shrugs, "It's not  _usually_  like that… It's just what happened to me last time."

He idly pets the fur below him, then sighs, "... Well, since it's already in progress, we might as well ride the boat out, or rather, the jellyfish. Besides, I don't think the snow is all that deep beneath us, so if we tried to jump down, we'd take some serious damage." He smiles lightly, "Honestly, I'm actually really intrigued by whatever is going on, and I really want to know, the only reason I'm reluctant to do so is because I really need to be getting to Alne…" His sister nods in understanding and agreement, but she's staring at him with a weird contemplative look, that causes him to shift uncomfortably, "... What?"

She jerks slightly, then glances away, "Nothing…" He doesn't believe it for a second though, and simply stares her down, and after a minute, she caves, "It's just… Onii-chan is really open about his emotions…" He gives her an utterly confused look, and her gaze drops down to her hand as she absently pets the jellyfish's fur while she gathers her thoughts, "... I've felt recently that Alfheim, and perhaps VRMMOs in general, test their players, but not in the obvious ways. The thing is, you obviously can't always win in these games, there  _are_  times when you lose. How hard you struggle, or if you can still hold your head high afterward, that's what I feel they test. In previous regular MMOs, your avatar wouldn't change no matter what happened to you, when you lost you could just talk about your defeat in whatever manner you wanted. However, when full-diving, your avatar always reproduces your emotional state. It's even possible to shed tears of mortification…"

His sister tilts her head as she continues to try and explain, "Most players hate how their avatars will always show how they really feel. When a situation turns bad, some will try to laugh it off, but a lot of players will log out as soon as they're defeated, not wanting to let others see how it affects them. Even I've done it a few times, when I felt like I was going to cry in frustration or something… Onii-chan doesn't seem to have any concept of that idea though. When we were fighting those Salamanders in the Legrue corridor, you didn't even try to hide your desperation or fury, and it was a similar situation when you were fighting Eugene… I mean, I know Onii-chan was in Aincrad for two years, but… It's just a bit strange to me is all."

He turns his gaze towards the ceiling of Jötunheimr thoughtfully, such a thing, hiding his emotions in a fight, had honestly never occurred to him. It takes him a few moments to gather his thoughts and respond, "Well… In the real world, there's no specific goal to life, unlike games, there's no specific ending you're working towards. Sure, you set goals and dreams, but that's not the entire point of life, even if some people end up dedicating all of theirs to one specific goal… So you could say that what you experience, the emotions that fill your life, are the whole reason for it. You could say that people live solely to be able to be happy with friends and family, to be content with the company of such people, and to fall in love. VRMMOs may have specific goals like quests and fully leveling this or that, but they aren't the be all and end all of why you play. You don't go, 'Oh, well I've completed this quest or reached this level, time to quit'. No, you keep playing. I think that it's for similar reasons as to why you just keep on going in the real world. Because you want to continue being awed by amazing places, to be triumphant after hard battles, and celebrate accomplishments with friends. The things we feel here are just as real, just as  _ **important**_  as what we feel in the real world. Sure, no one likes to feel the negative side of emotions, but you can't deny that feeling them enhances the positive, and besides, if you couldn't feel negative emotions, you likely wouldn't feel positive ones either. If the trade off for being able to love and feel happiness, or triumph, or even just relief is feeling things like sorrow or frustration, then it's worth it. So, no. I don't hide what I'm feeling. Those emotions are too important to be degraded like that, as though they don't matter because 'it's just a game'."

His sister nods slowly, a thoughtful expression on her face as she idly takes in the rather impressive view they have from the jellyfish's back. Abruptly, she straightened with a worried look, and he instantly became alert as he looked for enemies, "What is it?"

His sister frowns heavily, "Do you remember how I said the closest exits from Jötunheimr were to the south and west?"

He nods, "Yea, so?"

His sister points at something in the distance, a massive tower stretching towards Jötunheimr's roof that chillingly reminds him of the labyrinths of Aincrad, despite being black. Then she points to another tower, before heavily pointing out what was rapidly becoming obvious to him, "The distance to our exits is increasing, which will only make it that much harder to escape after this event has played out. In other words, we're going the wrong way."


	33. Tonkii

His jaw tightens as the situation sinks in, as he realizes he's getting further from his goal, "... Well, the event might take us back in that direction?"

It was a long shot, and they both knew it, but his sister thankfully chooses not to point that out, "... It's a possibility." Then her eyes widen, "Though, if we're going in the opposite direction, then..." Without finishing she turns around quickly and looks up before gasping in astonishment, "... The pictures don't do it justice…"

He turns to see what's got his sister's attention, only for his jaw to drop. Ahead and above them dangling from the roof, was a large structure of ice, absolutely  _massive_  branches, or rather  _roots_  were woven around it holding it in place. He could just barely make out several pinpricks of light seemingly trapped inside the ice, creating the illusion of a massive majestic eye.

He stares at it with wide eyes, "What…. What is that thing?"

Leafa's tone is breathy awe when she replies, "They're the roots of the World Tree or at least some of them. No one really knows what the icicle is supposed to be, but look, do you see? You can just  _barely_  make out what looks like corridors. It's speculated that the icicle is a dungeon of some sort, but since you can't fly here, no one knows for sure, because no one has found a way to get to it, and there's been nothing from the developers either…" She sighs lightly, "Which means that this… Evil God… is taking us to the center of the world. It's  _technically_  our final destination, but…."

Kirito sighs, "Since there's no way up, we'll have to backtrack to get back up to Alfheim, and  _then_  head to the World Tree. It does us no good to go to the center of the world in  _Jötunheimr_."

His sister nods reluctantly, "I'm sorry Onii-chan. I wish it were as simple as that, but the center of Jötunheimr and the center of Alfheim aren't directly connected to one another to my knowledge…"

He grins lightly at her, "Leafa… Do we have to have the 'who's to blame' conversation again, because I  _will_  tickle you mercilessly."

That gets a small smile out of her as she shakes her head, then she focuses on something behind him and stiffens. Turning to see what it is, he tenses up as well when he realizes that there's another Evil God not even twenty meters away, staring at them. It wasn't like their jellyfish friend or the giant, but it was definitely a beast type, rather than a humanoid type. A moment later he's absolutely baffled when it just turns and walks away.

He shares a look with his sister, then hesitantly throws out, "Maybe it's because we're with this Evil God? As in, while we're doing the event with Tonkii they won't attack. If that's the case though, it would be  _really_  useful if it was going the other way…"

His sister tilts her head thoughtfully, "I guess so…." Then she suddenly frowns, "Hey…" He turns to look at her, and she returns his gaze with utmost seriousness, "Let's give it a name! It's gotta be cute though." He gives her a baffled look, unsure how to respond to that, so she hurriedly explains, "I mean, we may have saved it, but it saved us too, you know? And it's been so friendly… It just doesn't feel right to call it 'this  _ **Evil**_  God'." He nods slowly then starts wracking his head for a name that would fit a jellyfish. His sister seems to be going from the other angle though, as she starts muttering, "Elephant-like… Elephant-like…."

As he shifts his thought process to  _elephant_  names, he recalls a book Sugu used to own that their mother read to her, and without thinking about it, blurts out the name, "Tonkii."

His sister looks at him blankly for a second then seems to recall the book in question and grimaces. Not that he can blame her, he'd winced almost as soon as the suggestion had left his mouth. The story of Tonkii the elephant had not been a happy one. The story was that at the end of a long war, an order was given to dispose of the fiercer animals at the zoo. The crying zookeeper put the poison into the animals feed, but the smart elephant Tonkii refused to eat it, eventually starving to death.(1) Their mom always cried when she'd reached that part of the story, and he honestly hadn't understood why, amidst all the other more normal children's books they owned, she'd chosen to read something like  _that_  to Sugu, who was just a child. He'd asked once, and her response had been that she wanted to teach Sugu that there wasn't always a happy ending, that life wasn't always fair. Of course, his next question had been why she'd never read anything like that to  _him_ , why she'd only read optimistic happy stories to him. She'd smiled with a touch of bitterness and told him it was because he already understood that, even without her telling him.

His sister shakes her head slightly, "... I don't think that name will bring us any luck…"

He nods lightly, "Yea, but it was the first thing that came to mind…"

Leafa furrows her brow in thought, then sighs, "I can't think of anything else either… Tonkii it is then!" His sister smiles cheerfully as she runs her hands over the fur beneath them, "Hey, Evil God-kun, from now on, we're gonna call you Tonkii, ok?"

Of course, it doesn't respond, but it also doesn't protest the name in any way, so they both just choose to assume it's accepting of it. Yui flies down to be in front of its face, then happily greets it, "Hello Tonkii-san! It's nice to meet you! Please take good care of us!"

As though it understood, though it was probably just good timing, Tonkii moves the gill flaps on either side of its head. Yui drifts back up to him happily and climbs back into his pocket. For a while they simply continue on, occasionally coming across more Evil Gods, but much like the first they'd seen since Tonkii had picked them up, they just stared at them for a moment before ambling off. They didn't come across any more giants, thankfully, but they did come across a couple more like Tonkii.

After a solid twenty minutes, Kirito begins to doze off again, but only a couple seconds later something cold is shoved down his shirt and he jumps to his feet in surprise, "Cold!" His sister chuckles lightly, and he glares at her a bit, "That was mean."

She shrugs, "It's what you get for dozing off… Anyway, I noticed that none of the other Evil Gods are attacking Tonkii, but that brings up the question of why the giant did."

He tilts his head in thought, "... Did you see anymore humanoid Evil Gods? I didn't before I started dozing off…"

Leafa shakes her head at that, "No… Do you suppose that's what it was? That the only ones that fight each other are the humanoids and beast types?"

He nods slowly, "It's a possibility… It could also be that the giants only attack Tonkii's type… I don't know about you, but I haven't seen that many like Tonkii around, and I haven't seen  _any_  more giants, so there's really no way of knowing…. Unless you've heard something about this event before?"

His sister shakes her head though, "No… As I said earlier, Jötunheimr is new. Not to mention… With its difficulty, only  _the best_  players hunt here. If a normal hunting party had come across Tonkii's battle with the giant, they likely would've just watched the fight, then fought the giant after Tonkii was killed…"

Kirito nods at that, "Then only the designer and Tonkii know how this event will end, so I suppose there's nothing to do but let it play out."

His sister nods but doesn't say anything, so he simply flops back, using his arms as a pillow. A moment later, he feels Yui fly out and land on his chest, mimicking his position, and his lips twitch up slightly in amusement.

Leafa sighs, "... If you fall asleep again, I  _am_  going to hit you with an ice spell."

He yawns, "Yeah, yeah… Can you really blame me though? It's already three in the morning."

His sister makes a sound of surprise, "Is it really?" There's a pause, likely her looking down and to the right at her clock before she sighs again, "It really is already three…."

He cracks an eye open to glance at her, "Is there a problem with that? I didn't think you had plans tomorrow."

His sister shakes her head, "I don't, it's just… I've never stayed on past two before…"

He hums lightly as he closes his eye again, "I see…. Well, first time for everything I suppose…"

His sister shrugs lightly, and they fall into a comfortable silence, and it's another ten minutes before Tonkii abruptly stops. He sits up in curiosity, Yui flying up to land on his shoulder. Seeing that his sister had moved to Tonkii's head and was now gaping down at something in amazement, he moves forward as well. His eyes widen in surprise at what lays below. Simply put, it was a hole, but it was the sheer size of it that had them wide eyed, considering it was so wide that due to the way details were lost in the distance, the other side a vaguely defined misty blue that blended with the snow on the other side well enough to make it difficult to tell where the edge was. Down into the hole itself, the sheer cliffs were covered in thick snow and deep ice that was nearly transparent at the top, but gradually faded into a light blue color, then threw the shades of blue into indigo, before eventually fading into inky blackness.

No matter how much he started or tried to focus, he couldn't see the bottom, "... I wonder what would happen if someone fell down that…"

Yui frowns seriously, "The bottom of this structure is not defined in the map data I can access."

He raises an eyebrow, "So, what you're telling me is that it really  _is_  bottomless…"

He shares a nervous look with his sister before they both carefully move away from Tonkii's head, despite Tonkii still being a bit away from the pit. As though realizing his passengers had finished their observation of the pit, Tonkii suddenly starts moving again, even closer to the pit, making both Leafa and himself tense up. However, after a minute, Tonkii simply settles down near the pit with a thud and a quiet chirp, and after curling up its long nose, it stops moving entirely.

He shares a brief look with his sister, then they both carefully climb off Tonkii's back, on the side opposite the pit of course. Backing up a few steps, he observes Tonkii, who no longer looks like either a jellyfish or an elephant. With all its limbs and its trunk curled under it, it looks more like a massive bun laying in the snow than anything.

It's also not moving whatsoever, which leaves them entirely unsure of what the next step is. His sister moves back over to Tonkii and lays a hand on its fur, "Hey Tonkii, what are we supposed to do?" Of course, Tonkii doesn't respond. A moment later though, their eyes widen as they realize that Tonkii's fur is beginning to harden, and his sister gasps, "Don't… Don't tell me… He died when he reached his objective?!"

His sister sounds genuinely saddened by that, but he has no idea of how to console her. Thankfully, Yui shakes her head, "No. He's still alive." His sister sighs in relief, but Yui frowns and continues, "It's strange though… Tonkii-san's code is changing rather drastically..."

Leafa seems unsure of what to make of that, and to be honest he doesn't really know either, so she tilts her head unsurely at Yui, "So… Tonkii's just… sleeping?" Yui tilts her head in thought, then nods slowly, and Leafa huffs, "Oh, honestly… Sleeping when we've been working hard all night…"

She pouts at that and he huffs out a small laugh, his gaze drifting upwards in thought before his eyes widen, "Leafa, look! The icicle, it's amazing!"

His sister lifts her head in confusion, only for her jaw to drop. The massive icicle and the roots of the world tree had looked impressive from a distance, but standing almost directly beneath it was amazing, and the structure inside was now much clearer. It was strange, but it kinda seemed like the bottomless pit was what was  _directly_  beneath it, and furthermore, the icicle and the pit actually seemed to be the same diameter. That only made the idea that it was a dungeon kind of terrifying in Kirito's opinion. A dungeon suspended over a bottomless pit? It's kind of obvious where  _that_  is going, the dungeon would obviously break apart and fall into the pit under specific circumstances.

His sister tilts her head at the structure, "Really amazing… If this is all part of one dungeon, there's no doubt in my mind that it's the largest in ALO…" His sister sighs and reaches a hand towards it, much like she reached for the sky back on the tower when they left Sylvein. Of course, there was still a distance of at least two hundred meters between them and the bottom of the icicle, and after a moment she lowers her hand sadly, "How do I get up there..."

Before he can even begin to think up a response to that, Yui shoots up from where she'd been sitting on his shoulder, "Papa! There are players approaching from the east! One a bit ahead, likely a scout, followed by twenty-three others!"

Kirito shares a look with his sister. It was obviously a hunting party. Originally when they'd ended up here, that had been exactly what they'd been hoping for, but now that they were with Tonkii… After a moment, he just barely made out the sound of footsteps in the snow with the Listening aspect of the Scanning skill. It was kind of impressive really, that he could barely hear them at all, considering both his Scanning skill and the sub skill Listening were both fully leveled. However, his brow furrows as the footsteps stop, they should be about ten meters away in plain view, but… His sister raises her hands in preparation of a spell, but a moment later the space the person should've come to a stop in shimmers and a single male player appears, and Kirito almost wants to smack himself for the oversight. Magic. He'd been hiding with  _magic_.

The player had pale skin and light blue hair that was customary to the Undine if he remembered correctly. The player had a sharp glint in his eye as he nods at Tonkii, "That Evil God, are you hunting it or not?"

Kirito shakes his head, "No, we seem to have accidentally triggered an event of some sort with it. It's been very friendly and brought us here."

The player stares him down coldly as the rest of his party catches up, "Then get out of the way, or you'll get caught up in our long ranged attacks."

Anger bubbles up at that, "You-! Were you not listening?! It's  _friendly_ , part of an  _event_!"

The player raises an eyebrow, "So?"

Kirito glares at the player, "So? So?! There are  _plenty_  of other Evil Gods for you to hunt, and you don't exactly have competition for them, now do you?! There's absolutely  _no reason_   _whatsoever_  that you have to kill  _this one_!"

The player stares him down, unaffected by his outburst, "On the contrary, just a little while ago we were wiped out by a particularly strong Evil God. It was hard to collect all of the Remain Lights and restore our party. If it's  _friendly_ , as you put it, it isn't likely to fight back, and we'd be foolish to let easy pickings like that go. Since I'm a nice guy… I'll give you ten seconds to get out of the way. Mage team, begin casting support magic." He waved his hand and the players in the back row began casting, one after another, the Warriors lit up briefly with what was likely stat boosting spells, and the player pulls the bow from his back and notches an arrow, pulling the drawstring back and pointing the arrow at them as he begins his countdown, "Ten…. Nine….. Eight….."

He was likely no match for this particular party, given that they were undoubtedly much stronger than Eugene and his men, but nevertheless his hands shoot up to grab his swords in anger, and more than one of the Undines raise an incredulous eyebrow.

However, his sister grabs his arm and drags him out of the way, "Come on Onii-chan, there's nothing we can do…"

The scout watches them move away, then with no fighting spirit whatsoever, calmly finishes his countdown and give his instructions to his party, "Three…. Two…. One. Commence attack."

There was an explosion of noise as the mages unleashed the spells they'd begun after buffing the warriors, and the spells loud explosions as they slammed into Tonkii. Only a couple seconds later, the warriors descended on Tonkii like a pack of ravenous wolves, viciously attacking Tonkii despite the fact it wasn't fighting back, just crying out feebly. The Warriors back off momentarily so that the next wave of spells can slam into Tonkii, the explosion completely engulfing Tonkii. With that, ten percent of Tonkii's health was already gone. Tonkii's cry was even weaker and more tragic sounding than when the giant had been beating it up, though maybe it was just Kirito's own feelings that the Undine party was being unnecessarily cruel that made it seem that way.

It takes him a minute to realize he was clenching his fists tight enough to make it uncomfortable, which meant that if his avatar was capable of feeling it, his clenched fists would be in pain. They may not have Tamed Tonkii, but much like Silica and Pina, Kirito found that despite the short time they'd been together, he genuinely  _cared_  for Tonkii, whose progressively weaker cries stabbed at his heart.

As Tonkii's health reached fifty percent, Kirito made up his mind, "Leafa-"

However, at the same time, his sister speaks up, "Onii-chan-"

They both cut off and turn to one another, and after a beat, his sister continues, "... I'm going to help."

Kirito nods solemnly, "Same. I… I want to help Tonkii too."

His sister gives a slightly bitter smile, "... We're at the center of the world, and yet your goal of reaching the top of the World Tree has never been further away… If we interfere, we'll undoubtedly be dead in ten seconds or less, and your dragon form will only be more of a hindrance here, seeing as it will give them more surface area to attack… They'll kill Tonkii anyway, once we're dead, so it will end up being meaningless, in the end…"

Kirito nods again, "I know. I can't just stand by and watch though. Tonkii may just be a bunch of code amongst the sea of code that is ALO, but Tonkii is our  _friend_ , and I can't just abandon it."

His sister nods firmly, "We'll have to start back over from Sylvein, but I'll help you travel to Alne again, Onii-chan."

He gives her a brief grateful smile, then turns his gaze down to his daughter. It tugs at his heart when he sees that she's wiping away tears that she must've been shedding for Tonkii, and his resolve grows, "Yui… I'm sorry, but it's gonna be a bit longer before we see Mama. Make sure you hide, ok?"

Yui nods firmly, "I understand, Papa. Good luck!"

Without another word, she dives into his pocket as deep as she can. With Yui safely out of the way he shares one final firm look with his sister that conveys an unspoken agreement to go after the low defense mages first, they both draw their swords and charge in. At the sharp metallic sound, the mage closest to them turns with a questioning look, only to be met with Leafa's Katana biting into his shoulder and reducing his health by thirty percent, and his follow up slashes with his swords finish him off.

Without hesitation, he and his sister turn to the other mages, ready to take out their next foe. By now, the mages have realized something is wrong and had turned to them, staring with dumbfounded expressions before one of them bursts out, "Are you  _ **serious**_?!"

He glares at them, " _Nooo_ , of course not, we just like to go around killing  _one_  party member of groups that could probably wipe us out in less than a minute just to see how they react! Of  _ **course**_  we're  _ **serious**_ , you moron!"

Without another word, he and his sister dash forward, picking out new opponents. The mages, finally snapping out of their shock, let out various curses before quickly switching from the spells they'd been using against Tonkii to different ones, not that Kirito knew enough about magic in the game to be able to tell the difference between them before these spells are released. That said, he figures it's probably not a good idea to just stand there and  _take_  whatever they're throwing at him, so he takes advantage of his newest opponent and uses him as a shield for what turns out to be high-speed short range spells.

Most of the spells simply graze their clothing, as Leafa had followed his lead and used her opponent as a shield, though two of them turn out to be homing spells that score direct hits. Ignoring the damage as best they can, they both take out their makeshift shields, and move to take out their next opponents, but just then a silver arrow lodges itself into his shoulder.

He turns to see the leader of the party, the scout they'd initially run into, staring them down as he readies another arrow, "Warrior team, fall back! The mage team is under attack!"

The second arrow shoots towards his sister's chest. Not fast enough to dodge it entirely, she lifts her arm to block it, and it sinks in, mercilessly taking ten percent of her health with it, and while she's staggered, a high-pressure stream of water that seemed more like a laser tears a hole into her leg. He wants to move to her aid, but he's busy finishing off his third opponent and if they're going to die  _anyway_ , he's going to damn well inconvenience them as much as possible by killing as many of them as he can before he goes down.

At least, that was his thought, but he's already at only fifty percent of his health and a moment after he has that firm thought, a tornado of ice erupts around him, taking another ten percent. His sister moves over, raising a hand as though preparing to heal him, but then she notices the preparing of what even he could guess was likely large scale magic, and the warriors rushing back with furious looks. This was undoubtedly the end for them, but they'd lasted a full minute and taken five of the mages down, so he felt that they'd done good, considering the odds. At the very least, Tonkii should forgive them.

His sister seems to come to the same conclusion and simply rests her head against his chest in silent acceptance. However, before the mages finish their spells, or the warriors reach them, and even before an arrow can slam into them, Tonkii's formerly weak cries suddenly become incredibly loud, drawing his and his sister's attention.

His oval body had many hit marks still on it, but one was especially long and deep. Even as they watch, it extends until it goes straight through, from one end to the other. His eyes widen and his sister gasps. They'd both expected to see the same black blood from when Tonkii was getting beaten up by the giant, but instead pure white light poured out before it suddenly exploded in a wave. As it crashed over the warriors, the faint light of the support magic that had been cast on them suddenly turned to smoke, and as it reached the mages, their spells fizzle out.

His sister gasps again, "Dispel Field…"

Considering the way his sister and the Undines stare in frozen shock, Kirito is rather sure that a mob like Tonkii isn't supposed to be able to do that. Not even a moment later the hard husk that had been Tonkii's fur blows apart as the light shoots up in a spiral before fading away, revealing Tonkii, who had become a bit smaller, and more streamlined, his twenty thick tentacle limbs being replaced with numerous smaller ones that lacked the clawed tips they'd once had, the hard round discs on either side of its head had become frilly looking things, though they were probably still gills, and Tonkii's health, which had been at less than ten percent, was now fully recovered. The biggest difference though, was the eight large wings now sprouting from Tonkii's back.

His sister trembles, and when he glances down he sees tears trickling from her eyes, "Tonkii…"

As though hearing his sister, Tonkii suddenly dips into a dive before leveling out ten meters above where he'd poetically originally been laying, lifted its long trunk, and fluttered its ears before chirping out its strange battle cry, "Yurururururu!"

Then it suddenly started glowing blue, much like it had when it had shocked.. the…. giant…. He lets out a nervous laugh, "Ah…. That's bad…"

Seeing the light begin to travel down to Tonkii's many tentacles, he grabs his sister by the waist and throws them both down into the snow. Only a second later, Tonkii releases truly massive lightning strikes from each of its legs, one after another. Without even being given time to scream, the Undines were struck and blown apart, the majority of the mages and archers were taken out almost immediately, but a few of them, and the warriors, survive the first wave.

The leader, apparently realizing they'd lost all chance of recovery, quickly cries out, "R-Retreat to the bottom of the hill! Close combat formation for healing and support!"

The group flees down the slope, and the warriors build a wall of their shields as the mages start chanting, but Tonkii just glides through the air, quickly catching up and once again releasing a wave of white light, disabling any active magic they had managed to get up in that short time and turning the incomplete spells to smoke.

Their leader finally seems to lose his composure at that, "God damn it!" He raises his hand towards the sky, and arrows of smoke burst forth, hiding the Undines in a smoke screen, "Retreat! Retreat!"

They fled rapidly, and soon disappear over a ridge in the distance. Of course, seeing as Tonkii had wings, it could likely chase them down with ease, but it simply lifts its trunk and issues a victory cry, then flapped four of the wings on one side to change direction. It flew over slowly until it hovered just above them, it's gaze shifting down to them.

He tilts his head slightly, "Sooo…. What do we do now?"

As though choosing to answer his question, Tonkii reaches its trunk down in a slightly familiar manner and picks them both up, setting them down on its back once more. His sister laughs lightly, "That's what I figured!" They share a small grin, then sheath their weapons, and his sister runs her hand over Tonkii's longer and thicker fur, "... After all that, it's good to see that you're still alive, Tonkii."

Feeling a shift on his chest, he looks down to see Yui poke her head out with a smile, "I'm really glad too! Alive means good things will happen!"

Kirito smiles lightly, "That would be nice, after the day we've had so far…" Tonkii drifts towards the massive hole, then with a loud chirp, begins to head up in a loose spiral, towards the icicle and the roots. Kirito grins slightly, "Hey Leafa, I think you got your answer.  _This_  is how you're supposed to reach that dungeon."

His sister smiles widely, then turns her gaze out over Jötunheimr in awe, and he smiles as well at the sight of the beautiful but deadly icy Jötunheimr stretching out around them, "Wish I had some way of taking a picture…"

His sister glances at him, "... Perspective views can be preserved through screenshot items, but the mood can't be recorded. The sorrow, joy, and feeling of freedom that mix together with wonder would be lost."

He nods, "I know, but it's still beautiful…. Especially since I prefer cold snowy climates like this."

His sister smiles lightly, then opens her menu and materializes something from her inventory before tossing it to him, "Then here. It's a screenshot Crystal. Use that and three images of what your avatar it's seeing will be saved to whatever computer you're using to dive from. I actually have a poster of my character flying that Recon captured my first day in Alfheim and had printed out for me. It's on the ceiling above my bed."

He nods idly as he carefully looks around until he finds the perfect view to screenshot. Not even a minute later his sister gasps from behind him, and he whirls around. What she was staring at was the bottom of the inverted ice pyramid wrapped in the roots of the World Tree. As they had barely been able to make out from the ground, the inside was divided up into several sections forming a dungeon.

His sister suddenly raised her right hand and chanted a short spell, causing water to gush from her hand and immediately freeze into a flat crystal. He moves over to her in curiosity, "What is it?"

Leafa holds the crystal closer to him, "It's a type of distance viewing magic made with an ice crystal. Here. Look at the tip of that huge icicle, I saw something shining there…"

They both lean closer to get a better look through the lens, though the image was blurry at first, it steadily cleared up until they could see the clear image of a golden sword stabbed into a pedestal, and his sister gasps, " _No_ _ **way**_!" He looks at her unsurely, and she rushes to explain, "It's the «Holy Sword Excalibur»! I've seen pictures of it on the official ALO website… It's the strongest sword in the game! No one has known where it was until now though..."

Even though he's currently only in the game to save Marzanna and Asuna, his gamer instincts kick in at those words and he immediately leans forward to examine the dungeon already trying to find the path through as Tonkii circles the icicle, rising in a spiral. Inside he sees giants, exactly like the one that had tried to kill Tonkii, and understanding washes over him. If this was less like a quest and more of an  _event_ , which as his sister had said were more like dramas, then it would make sense that the giants and Tonkii's type were natural enemies of some sort. Which explained why Tonkii's species was responsible for transporting players here, likely in the hopes of finishing off the giants, and why the giant had been trying to kill Tonkii. He's pulled from his examination when his sister makes a noise of surprise, and after glancing over and seeing her looking up, he turns his own gaze skyward.

The first thing his eyes see is a platform of some sort protruding from the middle of the icicle. Tonkii's flight path would pass right by it, close enough that it would be easy to jump to it. However, a split second later he notices a specific root hanging from the very top of Jötunheimr that had stairs carved into it. The stairs kept going up straight into the ceiling, making it obvious that it was some sort of path right up into the center of Alfheim. In other words, a passage either straight into his destination of Alne or at the very least  _close_  to it. That said, there was no connection between the stairs leading to his destination and the balcony leading into the dungeon. If they jumped off at the balcony for a chance at Excalibur, then there would be absolutely no way to get to the stairs.

His eyes flickered between the balcony and the stairs for the briefest of seconds. His instinct as a gamer was to jump at the balcony, and it was true that having the most powerful sword the game would help in their self-appointed task, but that was only  _if_  they could actually make it through the dungeon and get it, and they likely couldn't. With that in mind, the choice was incredibly simple. Saving his  _mate_  and their friend was  _far_  more important than  _any_  sword.

When it reached the platform, Tonkii leveled out and slowed down a bit, clearly giving them a chance to go to the dungeon and backing up his earlier statement that  _this_  was how one was  _supposed_  to get there. His instincts as Marzanna's mate made the choice easy and held him firmly in place, but his sister trembles with the effort to ignore her own  _gamer_  instincts, and he's entirely sympathetic to her plight.

As Tonkii seems to realize they aren't getting off there and speeds back up in its journey towards the exit his sister gives him an embarrassed smile. He gives her one of sympathetic understanding in return, "I've made up my mind. When everything with SAO is settled and  _everyone_  is finally home, I'll contact a GM and explain the situation with my character so they can reset it and possibly help me fix any problems. We'll play together honestly and come back here at some point, though probably with more players. Even with my SAO stats, I doubt we could make it through that dungeon with just the two of us, never mind if I have to honestly start from the beginning."

His sister gives him a beaming, "Yea! I'm looking forward to it Onii-chan!"

They share a smile, then Kirito glances down into the dungeon. It also explained why no one had found a way into the dungeon or realized Excalibur was  _here_. As his sister had said earlier, a regular hunting party likely would've just watched Tonkii's fight with the giant play out, then killed the giant after Tonkii was dead. That also made it unlikely that the event to get Excalibur would be figured out before he could grind his character to a sufficient level to go with his sister and a party to get it.

Just then, Tonkii approached the staircase carved into the root of the world tree. With its familiar chirping Yururu, Tonkii spread its wings out further and slowed down before coming to a stop in front of the stairs and hovering there before extending its trunk and winding the end around the bottom of the root like a rope. Standing up, he climbs over Tonkii's head, then takes his sister's hand to help her over and down onto the stairs.

Tonkii shakes its body a bit once they're off, then uncoils its trunk from the root. His sister suddenly steps forward and grabs the tip of the long receding nose with one hand, "... I'll come again, Tonkii. Take care until then. Don't let the other Evil Gods bully you."

His sister lets go, and his own hand shoots out to grab it, as he smiles warmly at Tonkii, "We'll be back at some point buddy, but I'm sure you can take care of yourself until then, seeing as you kinda evolved into a badass."

Yui flies out of his pocket to grab onto Tonkii's fur and adds her own promise with a smile, "We'll talk a lot again, Tonkii-san."

Tonkii gives a happy little Fururu as though it understood them, though Kirito honestly doubted it, it was a nice thought nonetheless. Turning away, Tonkii folds its wings and dives down with tremendous speed, shrinking into non-existence within moments.

His sister tears up a bit once Tonkii is out of sight, but quickly wipes them away and grins at him, "Let's go! I'm pretty sure Alne is directly above us!"

He chuckles lightly as they turn and start up the stairs, "I guess this means you were wrong. There  _is_  an exit from the center of Jötunheimr to the center of Alfheim."

Leafa shrugs, "I said to  _my knowledge_  there isn't, but one-way secret passageways aren't unheard of in ALO, and we've already gone over the fact that no one had discovered the jellyfish/giant/Excalibur event."

He nods lightly, then tilts his head, "You know, when you put it that way, jellyfish/giant/big hole/Excalibur, this event actually escalates pretty quickly doesn't it? One minute you're saving a poor jellyfish mob, then you're  _riding_  the jellyfish, there's a big hole, jellyfish evolves like it's a freaking Pokémon, then you're riding the evolved Pokémon jellyfish, and  **BAM** , there's Excalibur."

His sister laughs a bit, "Yea. For the most powerful sword in the game, it does kinda just come out of nowhere, doesn't it?"

He nods, then sighs, "Anyway, let's hurry up and finish the last leg of this journey. I'd  _really_  like to log out in Alne already so we don't have to worry about starting over from Alne anymore, and so I can just go to  _sleep_ … Although, when we get out of here, we should probably keep what we know about Excalibur a secret if we want to be able to go after it sometime in the future…"

His sister nods, "Yea, I know, I'm not naive enough to go blabbing something like  _ **Excalibur's**_  location and how to get there. But  _ooh_ ,  _ **sleep**_ , how tempting that sounds at this point…"

He nods enthusiastically at that, and he can all but  _hear_  Marzanna laughing and fondly calling him a sleepy head. His mood plummets as he realizes that depending on how this rescue mission of theirs goes, it may be quite a while before he hears her laugh or call him sleepy head or worrywart. After a moment, he shakes that thought off. No matter what it took, if she and Asuna were here, he  _ **would**_  save them.

The journey up the stairs takes more than ten minutes before they finally see a thin streak of light ahead of them. He shares a glance with his sister, then with a sudden burst of energy, they rush up the stairs two at a time. Pausing at the top, they share another look they push on the panel and pop their heads out to make sure it's safe, and as soon as they confirm that the pathway  _did_ , in fact, lead into town, they step out. Immediately the hidden panel slides shut, but they had both figured it was a one-way passage anyway, so they simply take in their surroundings. They were on a stone terrace probably halfway up the beautiful, majestic city built on the roots of the World Tree and the large slope leading up to it.

There were stone buildings of various sizes spreading out in all directions. Being night, the yellow fires from street lamps, blue lights that seemed to run on magic, and pink lights that seemed to come from some sort of mineral twinkled everywhere around them. There didn't seem to be any particularly prevalent race amongst the players walking through the streets, nor did those players seem to have any care about race.

Kirito slowly lifted his gaze, following the massive trunk of the World Tree upwards. Above them, there was no night sky, just a massive canopy of branches stretching out for  _miles_ , "... The World Tree…"

His sister beams happily, "Yup! No doubt about it. This is Alne! The center of Alfheim, and the biggest city in the world."

Kirito nods, "Yea… We're finally here…"

Yui pokes her head out of his pocket with a huge smile, "Wow… I've never been to a city this size! There are so many people!"

Leafa nods lightly, "Me neither. The ore light looks like stardust…"

A moment later, a loud gong like sound cut through the air and their happily victorious moods, before the same female voice from the character creation menu announces, "The server will be down today, January 22nd, from 4 am to 3 pm for scheduled maintenance. Players are asked to log out ten minutes in advance."

The system began to repeat the message, but they tuned it out. His sister stretches and yawns, "That's all for today, huh? Let's find an inn and log out."

Kirito understood that server maintenance was important, but it was still immensely frustrating to realize that his self-given quest was being delayed again, "... Yea…" Then he shakes his frustration off and turns to his sister with a grin, "Well, let's find an inn. Like I said, I kept the equivalent of ten mithril pieces, and any excess that would've made my donation to the Lords an odd number, but I'd prefer to keep as much of it as possible just in case, so let's go somewhere cheaper."

Leafa sighs, "You've got that much Yuld and you're still being cheap? Ah, whatever, I suppose it doesn't hurt to be careful with your money, just in case." Then she turns to Yui, "You heard your papa. Is there a cheap inn nearby?"

Kirito can't help but smile a bit at the fact his sister has become completely accustomed to Yui's presence in a day. Yui furrows her brows and frowns lightly, then smiles brightly and points down the street towards the World Tree, "Yes! There's a super cheap one down that way."

His sister gives Yui an unsure smile, "S-Super cheap?"

Yui nods, "It seems the inn doesn't have rooms, the upper floor is just one big dorm like room."

Kirito chuckles lightly, "There's no need to go that cheap Yui, I'd at least like a room of my own, and I'm sure your aunty Leafa would as well."

Leafa nods quickly, so Yui furrows her brow in thought again, before nodding, "Ok! I've got one!" Yui flies out in front of him, then turns with a smile, "Follow me, I'll show you where it is."

Leafa follows with a smile, and with one last glance at the World Tree, he trails after them.

* * *

January 22nd, 2025

Kazuto steps out onto the porch and takes a deep breath of the crisp morning air. A thin layer of snow covered the ground, the cold air nipped at his body and bit at his lungs, but still his residual grogginess shrouded his mind. He'd been  _hoping_  that would be enough to wake him up, but since that wasn't the case it was time to move to plan B.

With that in mind, he moves over to the outside faucet that was about two feet off the ground and had a large bowl under it, rolled up his sleeves, turns it on and splashes his face with the ice cold water. That wakes him up quickly, and he briefly marvels that the water hadn't frozen entirely before splashing his face a couple more times.

Having suspected that he'd need to use such measures given that he was a sleepy head, as Marzanna liked to call him, on the best of days, much less when he stays up to nearly four in the morning, he already had a small towel draped over his shoulders. As he wipes his face with the towel, the sliding door into the porch opens. Lifting his head, his lips twitch up slightly in amusement as he sees Sugu stumble out, rubbing at her eyes. Usually, his sister was an energetic morning person from the moment she climbed out of bed, but today she was bleary eyed and groggy, though that was understandable after the day they had in Alfheim yesterday.

He smiles warmly at her, "Good morning, Sugu."

Sugu walks towards him on unsteady feet, "Morning, Onii-chan."

He turns to her as a thought strikes him, "You alright there? I realize you're not really as used to pulling all nighters for games like me…"

His sister nods slowly, "Yea, I'm fine. Tired, but fine…"

Remembering something from last night he does his absolute best to contain a grin and speak in a casual voice, "Hey, Sugu. Turn around for a second."

Still only half awake, and far too trusting when it comes to him, she only briefly tilts his head in question before doing it, "Like this?"

Quickly cupping his hand and gathering some water from the bowl, he stands and moves the couple steps to be behind her as quickly as he can without losing the water faster, then promptly pulls the neck of her jersey down and drops the nearly frozen water down her back.

She shrieks loudly then turns and smacks him on the arm angrily, "Onii-chan! What on earth was that for!"

He rubs at his now sore arm and struggles to get his words out through his laughter, "Th- That was- for- last night! You- you shoved  _ice_  down- down my coat!"

She pouts at him adorably, " _Onii-chan_!  _ **That**_  was because I was trying to keep you from falling asleep and automatically logging out! You're just being  _mean_!"

He chuckles at that, then pats her head with a mischievous grin, "You didn't have to shove ice down my shirt though, which means you were pulling a  _prank_  on your poor old Onii-chan.  _Never_  pull a prank on the Black Swordsman. I'll  _always_  get you back. You won't know when, you won't know  _how_ , but I  _will_  get you back, even if you  _are_  my little sister. Honestly, maybe you're just too trusting when it comes to me."

Her pout deepens and she whines out, "Onii-chan, you meanie!"

He lifts his hands in surrender, "I'll tell you what, why don't we go to that restaurant nearby later and I'll buy you a raspberry cream parfait to make it up to you."

She gives him a suspicious look, "... You promise?"

He nods with a slight smile, "Promise."

Her eyes narrow, "And you aren't going to try anything else mean?"

He laughs lightly, "I know I said you're too trusting, but you don't need to be  _that_  suspicious. I already got you back!" Seeing her eyes narrow further, he sighs, "I won't try anything. I  _promise_."

She stares at him for another minute, then smiles, "Ok! Then you're forgiven. Anyway, it's my turn to make breakfast, but I want to at least do some stretching and a little exercise, seeing as I woke up so late I probably won't end up doing Kendo practice today."

He nods lightly, but sighs. His wallet wouldn't really like this solution, as though Sugu loved the parfait in question, it was a bit expensive by his standards. At least he wouldn't be entirely broke and had a source of income doing tech support online. He'd had to get caught up on the changes that had taken place in the two years he was in a coma of course, but seeing as he'd had  _nothing_  to do but work on recovering until recently  _anyway_ , it's not like there'd been anything vying for his time.

Before he'd gotten trapped in Aincrad he'd already been doing a  _bit_  of tech support, but had mostly been relying on his allowance for games and other minor expenses. After how self-sufficient he'd been in Aincrad, that hasn't set right with him though, but his mom had been incredibly understanding and helpful in getting him caught up in tech changes so he could earn his own income that way. He didn't make a lot, but it was enough for him to have a bit of spending money without it grating on him for taking handouts, even if it  _was_  just from his parents.

* * *

It's half an hour later, after Sugu had roped him into helping with breakfast 'for being a meanie', when his sister suddenly pauses and turns to him, "Onii-chan, what are you planning to do today? Before we log into ALO I mean, seeing as we can't get on until after three."

He pauses in his task of washing the tomatoes, his mood dropping and that damnable void in his mind throbbing as it always did at the idea of being around his comatose mate, "... I was going to visit Marzanna today…"

His sister's mood seems to drop as well, "Oh… I see…" She turns back to her task of breaking up a head of lettuce, her chipper mood gone, "Hey, Onii-chan… Could I go with you?"

The request takes him by surprise, and he stops cutting the tomatoes again as he turns to her. After a moment, he smiles lightly, "Oh? Yea, sure. I'm sure that will make Marzanna happy. While we were in Aincrad we talked a lot about our real lives with one another. She really wanted to meet you and mom, so even if she's still… Well, I'm sure she'll be happy if you visit."

That last bit seems to take his sister by surprise, "She… wants to meet me? Why?"

He smiles at her, "Isn't it obvious? You're my precious little sister that I talked about a lot, of  _course_  she wanted-  _wants_  to meet you."

His sister is silent for a moment, then nods with a slight smile. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but there seemed to be a hint of sadness in her smile. However, before he could get a good enough look to be sure one way or the other, his sister scoops up the tomatoes he'd finished, drops them into the large bowl of salad, then quickly turns away to take it to the dining table.

By the time she sets it down on the table with a smile, the sadness is long gone. Observing her for another moment, he shakes it off, deciding it must've been his imagination.

* * *

With his sister's sudden decision to come with him, he'd forgone using his bike and chosen to take the bus with her instead today. It's just as the bus arrives that his sister decides to drop the admittedly important question on him, "Hey, Onii-chan, what are you going to do about school?"

Distracted by thoughts of Marzanna, he doesn't quite catch what she's trying to say at first, "School?"

His little sister persists though, "You were supposed to start high school last year, right? You can't just drop out of school."

He sighs again as he takes a seat and puts an elbow on the windowsill, "Well, now that you mention it… I was more focused on Marzanna at the time, but I recall Kikouka saying something about using one of the school buildings that had been abandoned due to unification and reorganization as a temporary school for the students who came back from SAO… There's no entrance exam, and after graduating, we'll be qualified to take college exams."

His sister nods, "I see. That's good to hear…" Then she looks away with a bit of worry, "But they'll be lumping lots of different students together. It seems like... I don't know, but it seems kinda…

He chuckles humorously, "You've got good intuition. On the surface, it sounds like what any good government would do after a crisis like SAO, but we 'SAO survivors' spent two years living in a brutal death game. They have no idea what that did to our mental health. So they're throwing us all together so they can keep an eye on us and be able to manage us easier."

His sister turns to him in astonishment, "Seriously?"

He nods lightly, "Probably. That said, despite that part of the reasoning behind it, I have to thank them for the safety net. If I wanted to get into high school the normal way, I'd have to start from scratch and spend the whole year at cram school. Of course, it's not compulsory for us to go to this temporary school, we can choose to study for exams ourselves if we want to."

His sister smiles at him, "I'm sure you'd do fine. Your grades are good."

He gives her a bemused smile, "They  _were_  good. Past tense. I haven't studied for two years."

His sister is undeterred though, and simply gives him a stubborn but warm smile, "Then I'll tutor you!"

He gives her a sly smile, "Oh? Then maybe you can help me with math and information processing."

His sister recoils at that a bit, seemingly at a loss for words, and he chuckles, then turns his gaze out of the window as silence descends over them. To be honest, until Sugu brought it up, school had been the last thing on his mind. Marzanna, Asuna, recovering, and patching up his relationship with his mom and sister were all that had been occupying his mind as of late.

In the two months since he'd returned to the real world, he'd felt incredibly uneasy without his beloved swords on his back. He fully understood that this was the real world, that there were no monsters that wanted to attack and kill him, yet that didn't lessen his uneasiness.

The rest of the ride to the hospital and up the elevator is done in almost total silence, and when they reach the room his sister tilts her head at the nameplate next to the door, "Sparda Marzanna? I know you said she's American, but that name is a bit weird isn't it?"

He glances at his sister, "A bit. According to Kyrie, the wife of Marzanna's cousin, Sparda was supposedly a demon who turned on his own kind in favor of the humans and angels, and Marzanna once told me her name comes from a goddess of witchcraft, death, and winter that is also associated with nightmares." He chuckles lightly, "It's actually a bit of a pet peeve for her, that her mother gave her brother the rather normal name Mike and she got something like Marzanna. That's actually apparently why she chose the character name Hanna. It was a private joke to herself because Hanna is a goddess of life. At least she wasn't like Asuna though, who used her real first name for her character."

His sister gives him an unsure look, "Really?" At his nod, she becomes a bit incredulous, "Who gives their daughter a name like that? I mean really, naming the baby girl you just gave birth to something associated with things like death and nightmares…"

He chuckles again, "The Sparda family is a bit… strange, I might even go so far as to say eccentric, I'll give you that, but they're good people and really nice... for the most part anyway."

His sister gives him a nervous look, "For the most part?"

He grimaces slightly, "... Marzanna's dad and uncle keep giving me dirty looks, but Kyrie says that's mostly because I'm Marzanna's boyfriend rather than anything to do with how they are."

His sister gives him surgery unsure look, "... I see…"

He shakes his head, "Anyway, enough procrastinating."

With that said, he opens the door and heads inside, his sister following nervously. Lily was once again visiting and gives him a warm smile, "Hello again Kazuto. How have you been?" Her gaze drifts to Suguha, and she tilts her head, "Who's this?"

Most of that greeting is routine. Lily is always warm and welcoming, and she always asks him how, partially in regards to his recovery in general, partially due to the emotional strain of having his mate be comatose, and partially to make sure the Dementor's Blood isn't getting to him too badly. He returns the smile the warm, if strange, woman gave him, "I'm fine Lily. This is my sister, Suguha. She came to visit Marzanna with me today. Suguha, this is Lily, Marzanna's mother."

His sister nods in greeting, "H-Hi. It's nice to meet you, Lily-san."

Lily turns that warm smile to his sister, "It's nice to meet you too dear, but please, just call me Lily. On that note, do you mind if I just call you Suguha? Despite living here for two years I'm  _still_  not really used to the honorifics."

His sister blushes lightly, but nods with a smile, "T-That's fine…"

He moves over to a chair by his mate's bed and sits down before gently taking one of her hands into both of his. He rubs his thumb over the back of it as he gazes at his mate, and despite his recent suspicions regarding ALO, he can't suppress the hope that she'll just wake up.

After a minute his sister shuffles awkwardly, then she suddenly moves forward and picks up one of the vases of flowers, "I-I'll just, err, change the water for these."

She begins to retreat to the faucet behind the curtain, and Lily smiles lightly as she picks up the other two vases and follows, "Let me help."

It's only once the water has been turned on and is helping to drown out the sound of their quiet voices that Lily speaks up, but even the water and the low volume of her tone doesn't stop him from being able to make out what they're saying. Though admittedly it  _would've_  two years ago, his hearing seemed to have become sharper since he woke up, so he can hear what Lily says easily, "It's alright you know." His sister makes a confused and slightly nervous noise, so Lily elaborates, "None of us have said anything to him, but the way he looks at her makes all of us uncomfortable sometimes, like we're intruding on something sacred."

There's a beat of silence before his sister responds with an equally low voice, "... O-Oh. That. Of course. It- it's nice to know it's not just me then…"

There's a pause, then Lily hums lightly agreement, though there seems to be a touch of confusion to it. Not that he can blame her, Suguha's response was a bit… strange. It was obvious something else was bugging her. It only served to make him think that perhaps he  _hadn't_  been imagining the strangeness to her behavior recently. It made him a bit worried about her, but there was little he could do without knowing what the problem was, and Suguha could be very stubborn about keeping secrets to herself.

He sighs lightly. He supposed all he could do was wait until she either decided to tell him what the problem was, or unless whatever it was came to a head and she needed his help. He was getting sick and tired of having to 'wait and see' lately when it came to helping the girls that mattered to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1): I just want to say, I did not come up with that messed up idea. That is legitimately where Reki Kawahara says they got the name Tonkii from in the light novels. I don't know if it's an actual book in the real world, but either way, it kinda messed up. Still, messed up or not, I saw no reason to change this, just clear it up that this messed up idea isn't mine.


	34. Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to warn everyone now, I'm going to do my best to stick to the schedule, but I've been having problems finding the motivation to write lately. With luck, I'll be able to push through it enough to keep to the schedule, but the next chapter could end up being late. If it is, I'll do my best to get it out as soon as possible.

By the time they arrive home after stopping by the restaurant for lunch and Sugu's promised raspberry cream parfait, it's already three twenty in the afternoon. Heading up to their rooms to log on, his sister pauses in front of her door, "H-Hey, Onii-chan?" He turns to her in question, but she isn't looking at him and is quiet for a minute before she hesitantly continues, "I... There are a few character things I gotta do when I log in so… I- it's gonna be a little bit before I can join you… So just- just give me a few minutes…"

His brow furrows, his worry growing the more his sister acts weird, "... Alright then. I'll meet you downstairs at the inn."

She nods, then hurries into her room without another word. He stares at her door in concern for a minute, then sighs, shakes his head, and enters his own room. With everything already set up, it's only a minute, maybe two before he finds himself in the inn room he'd stayed in the night before. For a moment he simply lays there, staring up at the ceiling without really seeing it, trying to figure out what had been bothering his sister lately.

He doesn't know what's wrong, but he's pretty sure her wanting to be alone has absolutely nothing to do with her character. In fact, it was only for the briefest of seconds as she closed her bedroom but he's pretty sure he had seen  _tears_  in his sister's eyes.

Five minutes later he climbs out of bed, dissatisfied and confused. Five minutes of thought and the  _only_  conclusion he'd reached was that whatever was wrong with his sister had something to do with Marzanna. It was the  _only_  thing in common with all of her little episodes of weirdness, but it didn't make any  _sense_. Sugu had never  _met_  Marzanna, considering today didn't really count due to his mate's current condition.

Heading downstairs slowly, he waits for his sister. It was hard not to go up to her room, seeing that he was fairly certain she'd just wanted to be left alone so she could cry without him knowing, but he holds himself in place, respecting the boundary she'd set. It's almost five more minutes before his sister finally comes down, and she looks much more like her usual upbeat energetic self, giving no indication if his suspicion of what she'd actually been doing was right.

She smiles widely at him, "Sorry about that, Onii-chan. Ready to go?" Then she seems to realize something, "Wait, where's Yui?"

Just as she finishes her sentence, blue light converges above his shoulder into Yui, who promptly gives a large yawn as she stretches before settling onto his shoulder, "Right here Aunty Leafa. Good morning, papa, aunty Leafa."

His sister smiles warmly at her, "Morning, Yui." Then she tilts her head in curiosity, "Do you actually sleep at night?"

Yui shakes her head, "Of course not. Well, not as you humans do, but I suppose what I do  _is_  a  _bit_  similar to sleep. When Papa isn't here, I shut down my input signal and process accumulated data, much like the human brain does while you sleep."

That only seems to confuse Leafa more, "But you yawned just now…"

Now it's Yui's turn to tilt her head in question, "That's what you humans do during your start-up sequence, right?" Then she smiles before adding, "On average, Papa's last eight seconds, but Mama rarely yawns in the morning."

Leafa gives Yui a strange look, and Kirito shrugs, "She may be fully sentient, but she's still an AI. She mostly learns by observing and gathering data on how she should act or talk from those observations." Then he shakes his head and smiles at them, "Well anyway, let's just get going already!"

As they exit the inn, he's a bit surprised to find the city even busier than he'd expected, "I know it's the center of Alfheim and all, but this is… I mean, I  _heard_  that it was currently the most popular VRMMO, but it's something else entirely to  _see_  it…"

As they make their way through town, he looks around in curiosity. The night before he'd been too tired to do more than give it a cursory look, but now that it wasn't nearly four in the morning he takes in everything around him as they make their way through the town towards the World Tree.

After about fifteen minutes they made their way through an archway that his sister told him separated the central district of Alne from everything else. They'd just barely passed through it when Yui suddenly shoved her head out of his pocket with a surprised expression that quickly became unusually serious.

He immediately halts in concern, "Yui? What's wrong?"

She doesn't answer him immediately, just stares up at the World Tree with utter seriousness, then she quietly mutters, "Mama… Mama is there…"

For a minute, he feels like he can't breathe, it was one thing to  _suspect_ , but to have  _ **confirmation**_ … He gives his daughter a desperate look, "You're sure?"

Yui nods firmly, "That's no doubt about it, the player ID I'm detecting above belongs to Mama. She's directly above us!"

His gaze snaps upwards and he clutches his teeth tightly as  _desperation_  and  _ **rage**_  tear through him at the confirmation that Sugou had  _dared_  to  _kidnap_  his  _ **mate**_. Without thought, he takes off at top speed, barely noticing the fact he creates a sonic boom.(1) Of course, he ends up slamming into the altitude barrier that he'd completely forgotten about in his frantic rush. His sister calls out to him in worry, but he barely registers it as he stabilizes his flight and tries to force his way through.

Again, the barrier repels him, but he just grits his teeth harder as he rights himself again. Before he can rush the barrier a third time, his sister grabs his arm, "Onii-chan, stop! It's impossible to go beyond this point!"

He glares with furious desperation at the barrier, "I've got to go! Can't you see? I've got to get to her, no matter what!"

Above them, Yui drifts up to the barrier and presses her hands against it, forcibly restricted from reaching Marzanna just as he was, and she was just as desperate as well, calling out to her despite the fact it was way too far for Marzanna to hear her, "Mama, it's me." As the barrier continues to hold her back, she lets out a sob before screaming in a heartbreaking tone, "Mama!"

* * *

Marzanna's eyes snap open to gaze at the branches and leaves above her as confusion and hope well up within her. She thought she'd heard Yui's voice calling out to her, she might've just pushed the thought away as a figment of her imagination, but there was a bright orange triangle with an exclamation point inside of it flashing in the upper right of her vision.

Tears well up in her eyes, and she  **knows**  in that instant that her mate and child are nearby, "Yui, Kirito…"

The man in front of her pauses and gives her a harsh questioning look, "What was that?"

She ignores him though, lowering her head to look past him at Asuna. Her friend was clutching the bars of her cage and had been shouting at the man she called Sugou furiously with tears in her eyes, but now she was also giving her a confused look. Marzanna merely locks eyes with her and smiles with warm reassurance as Yui's voice echoes around her a second time. Asuna's eyes immediately widen with hopeful understanding. Then her gaze flickers to Sugou before she quietly lets go of the bars and slowly begins to back away to her bed.

Sugou sneers at her, "What? You think that little  _cockroach_  can save you? Think again. There's  _nothing_  that powerless little  _ **brat**_  can do to help you."

Marzanna has no idea what her friend is trying to do, as she reaches under the pillows and pulls something out before quickly hiding it in her hands, but it's really not important. She's clearly got  _something_  in mind, so Marzanna's only job is to keep Sugou distracted. With that in mind, she opens her mouth to do what she does best. Piss him off, "Funny, hearing something like that from a man who's so pathetic he has to rely on other people's work to get what he wants. This world is basically just a cheap knockoff of SAO, isn't it?"

Sugou's face twists with fury, " _ **Cheap knockoff?!**_  Alfheim is superior to SAO in every way! This is  _my_  world, and I  _will not_  stand for you insulting it!"

With that proclamation, he reaches up and twists one of the many blades already stabbed into her body. She grunts in pain but doesn't regret it in the slightest. Not when Asuna had already reached her hand through the bars and dropped whatever she'd been holding while Sugou threw his little tantrum.

Her mate was coming for them, of that she was sure. Sugou was totally  _ **fucked**_.

* * *

Kirito punches the barrier furiously, "Damn it all! She's so  _ **close**_  but this stupid barrier-!"

He's so angry he can't even finish the sentence, and after a moment Yui pipes up quietly from where she's hovering near him, "I tried to use the warning mode to contact her, but I have no way of knowing if I reached her…"

His hands fly up to his swords, but before he can draw them, he sees a small speck of light as something reflects the sun at it falls down, "... What is that?" Moving to be beneath it, he releases his swords to catch it and realizes it's a keycard, which only serves to confuse him as you normally didn't see things like it in games like this, as developers didn't want to risk breaking a player's immersion, "A card?" His sister drifts over to him in curiosity, so he holds it out for her to see, "Leafa, do you have any idea what this is?"

She shakes her head, looking just as confused as he felt, "No, I've never seen an item like that." She shrugs lightly, "Try clicking on it?"

With an unsure look, he does as she suggests and tries to click on it. Normally, this would cause an item pop-up window to appear, but nothing happens. His daughter flies over and grips the edge of the card before letting out a gasp, "This… This is a system admin access code!"

His breath catches at that before he desperately asks his daughter, "Then, can we use it to access the GM controls?"

However, Yui slumps sadly at his question, "No… You need the appropriate console to access it from within the game. Even I can't bring up the system menu. I'm sorry, Papa."

He sighs, "It's alright Yui, it's not your fault. However, something like this wouldn't just fall from the sky for no reason. This is probably…"

Yui nods firmly, "Yes! Mama must've heard us and dropped it."

His eyes slip closed as he realizes they're daughter's cries  _had_  reached his mate, that she was telling them that she knew they were on their way. He purses his lips with impatience, "Yui, lead the way to the World Tree's entrance. It's about time we saved Marzanna."

Leafa suddenly speaks up, "Onii-chan, are you really going to try to fight your way through? The entrance is protected by incredibly strong guardians. Sakuya and Alicia Rue will likely be bringing their raid party in the next few days, we should just wait."

He gently places the card within his pocket, "I can't. I can't wait for that. I  _have_  to get to her. There are things I haven't told you Sugu, things that make this far more important than you understand… I understand though, if you don't want to come with. I can go the rest of the way on my own."

His sister stares at him with slightly widened eyes for a moment, then sighs, "No, I'll go with. I can't let you do this on your own, and I can't just stand by now that we know without a shadow of a doubt that those players are here. Though admittedly, I probably won't be all that useful in this particular fight, so I'll just stay back as support and heal you."

He nods with a smile, "That's alright, having you healing me will be helpful. Well then, let's go." Without another word he drops into a dive, soon landing with a heavy boom, his sister touching down a bit gentler only a few seconds later. He straightens up, then turns his gaze to Yui, "Lead the way."

She nods with a determined expression, then quickly begins to fly through the streets, both he and his sister flying right behind her. They slow to a stop and land at the bottom of a large staircase leading up to two large doors flanked by stone statues of fairy knights. Yui lands on his shoulder with an uncertain expression, "Are you certain about this, Papa? The information available indicates that breaking through the gate will be very difficult."

He nods without hesitation, "Our only choice is to try. Even if we fail, it won't cost us our lives."

Yui still seems unsure, "That's true, but…"

He sighs, "If I have to waste even one more  _second_  just standing around doing nothing, I'm going to go insane." Yui frowns at that, so he reaches up and gently rubs at the top of her head with one finger, "And you want to see your mama soon, right?"

That seems to bring back her resolve, "Yes. Let's go save mama."

He smiles briefly at her, then finally begins to make his way up the stairs, the weirdly quiet Leafa behind him.

As they approached the doors, the statutes suddenly move, turning towards each other and lifting their blades to cross them over the door and bar their entrance. A moment later the eyes of the statute on the right began to glow red as it speaks in a deep booming voice, "You who know not the heights of heaven… Do you desire passage to the king's castle?"

At those words, a window pops up in front of him reading: Will you attempt the grand quest «Guardians of the World Tree»?

Without hesitation, he clicks the little blue circle indicating acceptance. Immediately the statutes begin to retract their swords, lifting them into formal looking vertical stances as the one on the left speaks, "Then show that you are worthy of letting your wings take flight. You will be granted unlimited use of your wings during your trial."

The doors begin to slowly open, and he tenses up on reflex at the familiar noise of grinding stone. Apparently, they'd recycled the audio clip from SAO for when boss doors opened. He then reaches up for his swords and slowly draws them, "We're going in, Yui. Keep your head down."

Without hesitation, she dives into his pocket, then pokes her head back out, "Good luck, Papa, Aunty Leafa."

With that said, she ducks down into his pocket. He pauses to refocus himself after the jarring reminder of some of the worst times he had in Aincrad. Taking a deep breath, he lifts his determined gaze up to the room. It was completely dark inside at first, but a few moments after they enter the room brightens with blinding white light.

He narrows his eyes reflexively, then looks up. The walls were covered in smaller roots and ivy which hold thousands of hexagons of what looked like stained glass to the walls but were glowing a light blue. Directly above was a pure white structure that almost looked like a flower of some sort, from which the bright light came from. The very bottom layer was just a circle divided into four sections, and he'd bet money that it was the door. He tightens his grip on his swords, then pushes his wings out and kicks off hard.

Only seconds later one of the hexagons begins glowing brighter for a moment before a sphere of light comes off of it and expands, then the light dispels, revealing what must be a guardian. It looked a lot like the statutes outside, though more mechanical in design. It's waist, neck, and limbs disproportionately thin compared to its chest and head, though not in a comical way, looking more like an armor clad robot than anything.

Without hesitation, it tries to meet his charge, but he simply deflects its weapon with one sword before easily taking its head off with the other. For a few seconds, the encounter bolsters his confidence, as the guardians weren't even as strong as the  _regular_  mobs in the labyrinth of the 74th floor of Aincrad had been, and he'd gotten used to fighting them at  _night_. His booming confidence only lasts a few seconds though, as before his very eyes what had to have been at  _least_  two hundred of the mechanical knights suddenly spawn from the hexagons in his path to the top.

He falters for a moment at the sight, then grits his teeth, angry that they're barring him from his mate. He takes off again with a vengeance, quickly cutting the first that approaches him in half before twisting to deflect the blade of another with one sword and kill it with the other. Another comes at him from the side, but it's killed with the same immense prejudice as the others, only to have to immediately turn around and cut another in half before it can hit him.

Lifting his head again, he sees a dozen more knights ready their weapons and descend towards him, and a grim smile pulls itself across his face. He doesn't have  _time_  to defeat them all, but he will if he has to. They're trying to keep him from his mate, but he wouldn't allow  _anything_  to get in his way. He'd destroy  _ **everything**_  if he had to. That said, he'd prefer to get to Marzanna sooner rather than later, and as such, rather than engaging them, he rushes past them towards the top.

Of course, two of them get directly in his way. Deflecting the blow of the first, he goes right past it to thrust his blade into the other that hadn't had a chance to bring up its weapon yet, then whirls around, leading with his sword and decapitating the first. He just barely notices the one diving at him in time to bring his swords up in a block, getting pushed down with the force behind the sword grinding against his own. Shifting to the right, he lets his left sword fall away to his side as he shifts the guard of his right from diagonally pointing upwards, to diagonally down, letting the guardian's weapon slide down it uselessly as he smashes its face with the hilt of his right sword, then swings his left sword up, cleaving it in half while it's staggered.

Two more rush him from either side, and he's forced to block with his swords. He struggles under the force for a moment before managing to push them back. Spinning, he grabs the arm of one and throws it into the other before skewering them both, barely sticking around long enough for them to die before he takes off again, twisting around or cleaving any guardians that get in his way.

Another manages to force him down about fifteen meters before he manages to kill it and continue his mad rush to the top, which was surprisingly close. He reaches out for it, only for an arrow of light to pierce his hand. Looking down, he sees a few  _hundred_  of the mechanical knights had spawned near the bottom with bows and arrows of light, all of which are pointed at him. They release almost at the same time, and what seems like a wave of arrows comes rushing towards him.

Whirling back around he flies up, attempting to push through to the door which is so god damned  _ **close**_. An arrow goes through his leg, followed by one impacting his back and two digging into his arm, but he keeps going undeterred. A moment later, a sword tearing into his chest forces him to focus just in time to hear the whistling of more rushing towards him. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he drops into a rapid dive, losing far too much ground for his liking.

He glares at the guardians that put themselves between him and his goal, then reaches up and pushes the sword out of his chest. A moment later he hears his sister quickly chant a healing spell and his health jumps up from just touching the red to being completely full. Not even a second after she finishes though, he hears her let out an instinct shout.

Glancing down at her, his eyes widen when he sees her being attacked by the guardians, "The hell did you do to aggro them?! I thought you were just going to heal!"

She barely dodges a rush from one of the guardians, and deflects the blow of another, "I was! I was wanting to conserve as much as my magic as possible, so I waited until you fell into the red, but as soon as I cast, these ones focused on me! I guess they're programmed to actively take out healers!"

Frustration spikes through him at her words and grows even more when he looks up to see the guardians are beginning to become numerous enough to form a wall. He grits his teeth at the choice being presented to him. He can try and force his way through the wall of guardians  _now_  before the 'wall' becomes thicker, without his sister to heal him... or he can help his sister, freeing her up to heal him again, but give the guardians more time to gather.

Even as he wastes precious seconds debating the issue, the number of guardians before him grows. Gritting his teeth harder, he turns to help his sister, only to see a stream of fire incinerate the guardians beginning to surround her. It's immediately followed by Recon rushing over to her with a concerned expression. Turning towards the source of the attack in shock, he sees Sakuya and Alicia grinning at him, surrounded by their raid party, of about fifty Sylph and thirty Cait Sith mounted on western type dragons.

Sakuya's smile widens, "Sorry we're late! We've got your sister covered Kirito, you just focus on getting to the top!"

Alicia grins, "Yea, sorry. Even with the abundance of money, it still took us a bit to get everything together, but with the excess, we were able to speed some things up!"(2)

Sakuya turns her gaze towards their forces, "We owe that Spriggan a lot! Cover him at all costs!"

He nods at them, "Thank you! I just need someone to cover Leafa and you guys to draw some of their attention!"

Sakuya nods, "Alicia and I will cover Leafa, everyone else, commence the attack!"

He turns back to the wall of guardians, now considerably larger than when he'd initially looked away. He's more confident now though, knowing that his sister is protected and that the Sylph and Cait Sith will do their best to keep him from getting to overwhelmed. Bringing his swords up, he rushes the guardians, killing any that get in his way much easier now that he's grown accustomed to their attack patterns and stats.

Seeing four rushing him from his sides, he takes a page out of his mate's book and drops at the last possible moment, letting them stab each other with a slight smirk. Most of their stats, including their health, were surprisingly low, their highest one seeming to be strength, so they easily kill each other. That was the problem with simply reusing SAOs programming. He doubted the ALO developers were aware of the little fact that mobs could hurt each other. It had been a favored tactic of Hanna's when they faced numerous mobs, to all but dance through them, occasionally attacking, but mostly just baiting them into hitting each other. It meant that the more the guardians grouped together, the more likely it was they'd take  _each other_  out, and the more things were in his favor.

He cuts through any that get in his path ferociously, often twisting out of the way to let them hit each other, slowly forcing his way through unflinching at the vast numbers or the occasional explosion of fire from the Cait Sith dragons hitting clusters near him, occasionally being healed by his sister.

Realizing he's getting close to the top, he gives one final rush, leading with one sword extended and skewering any guardians in his path. Nevertheless, he'd expected more of a fight so it takes him by surprise when he abruptly breaks through, his sword biting into the stone of the gateway to the top of the World Tree. Exhilaration rushes through him as he realizes he's  _finally_  made it to the top.

He distantly hears Sakuya and Alicia order a retreat, though he's more concerned with the fact the 'door' isn't opening, "Yui!"

She flies out of his pocket immediately, "Yes, Papa!" she flies down and presses her hand against the door, frowning after a moment, "Papa, this door isn't locked by a quest flag. It's locked by the system administrators."

Fear cuts through him at those words. It couldn't be, there was  _no way_  he'd made it this far only stopped in his tracks! He gazes at Yui desperately, "What exactly do you mean?!"

She turns to him, "Players were never intended to be able to open this door! They only open to an admit access code."

His attention is caught as he realizes that more knights are beginning to spawn near him. For a moment, he just watches them make their way over in a strangely leisurely manner. Though perhaps it wasn't so strange, considering they didn't  _actually_  need to guard the gate. Yui flies back up to his shoulder with a nervous expression, but he honestly doesn't know what to do, and hopeless despair begins to seize him. There isn't really a point in fighting them if he can't get to Marzanna. It's not like he had the admin-

He jolts as he realizes that he  _does_  have the admin code. Shoving his hand into his pocket, he yanks out the card that had been inside and holds it out to Yui, "No, wait! Wasn't this-? Yui! Can you use this?!"

His daughter quickly flies over and touches it before smiling widely, "Yes! This will work! Just let me download the code to myself."

Both Yui's hands and the card glow briefly, then Yui flies back to the door and presses her hands against it. Immediately the door begins to open, spilling harsh white light out as Yui flies up to be level with him and extends her hand, "I'm about to be teleported! Papa, give me your hand!"

He extends his hand to her quickly, and she grabs onto it, lighting up with a blue glow that quickly extends to him. Seconds later the light spilling out of the gate becomes painfully bright and he squeezes his eyes shut to try and block out the light, a tingling feeling rushing through him almost instantly. A moment later both the harsh light and the sensation of teleporting fade and Kirito hesitantly opens his eyes to find himself in a long hallway.

He glances around briefly, looking for his daughter, and is slightly surprised to see her back in her full sized form, "Yui? Where are we?"

She shakes her head slightly, "I don't know. There's no map data for this place."

He purses his lips briefly, "You said earlier that you could detect Hanna's player ID though, so do you at least know which direction to go?"

Yui nods firmly at that, "Yes! She's really close by actually."

He nods, "Then we don't really need the map data, we just need to go to her."

Yui nods in understanding and quickly stands up, "Then we need to go this way, papa!"

She moves around him and takes off in the direction his back had been to, and he quickly gets up and follows her, sheathing his swords as he goes. They run down the corridor for maybe ten seconds before Yui stumbles to a stop and places her hands on what looks like a blank section of wall. However, a second or two later an opening appears as Yui seems to outright delete the door with the use of the admin code she now had.

She jumps over the lip and runs to the door at the end of the small corridor before repeating the process, and they both stumble out onto a large tree branch. He stops and looks around, "We're really at the top of the World Tree…" Glancing up, he snorts lightly, "There isn't any Floating City… It really was all a lie…" Then he shakes his head to clear the wayward thought then turns his gaze back to his daughter, "Hanna is out here?"

Yui nods firmly, "Yes." She points down the pathway the massive branch makes, "Mama is that way, but… I'm also detecting another player and an admin, plus… the pain absorption system appears to have been turned off here…"

He purses his lips as fury spikes through him again, knowing that doing something like turning off the pain absorption system could only be Bad, then pushes the thought and his fury down for a moment, "An admin?" His mind flashes to Sugou again and he grits his teeth, "Then… Does he know we're here?"

Yui shakes her head, "No, he'd have to either be actively watching player data or set up a player detection code into the system, and he doesn't seem to have done that."

He nods slowly, then turns to his daughter, "Yui… I need you to turn back into your Pixie form and hide. You  _absolutely_ _ **can't**_  come out or make any noise until I say so, alright? I've got a vague plan that requires you using that admin code, but I don't want anything to happen to you."

Yui hesitates, clearly unhappy with the idea, but nods anyway. She throws her arms around him in a tight hug, "Be careful, Papa. I love you. Just call for me when it's time."

He returns the hug, "I will, and I love you too. Don't worry, you'll get to see Mama soon enough, I promise."

Yui nods, then gives him a watery but hopeful smile before turning back into a Pixie and diving into his pocket. Taking a deep breath, he turns towards the direction his mate was in. He stares down the path for a moment, but he can see neither his mate nor the cage their friend was being held in due to the way the path slowly curved slowly being obscured by more branches and leaves.

The path seemed like it had been cut into the branch, leaving behind waist high wooden 'walls' of sorts on either side. Moving over to the wall that's on the inside when it curves he hurries along near it. The admin was likely Sugou, but if he was an admin there really wasn't much Kirito would be able to do against him, so the longer he didn't know Kirito was here the better. Once he got close he could use the wall as cover, or at least, that's the idea, he won't know how well it will actually work until he gets there.

After a solid five minutes of running along the path, he sees the golden glint of Asuna's cage begin to peek out from behind the thick wall of branches and leaves. Quickly dropping into a crouch, he follows the wall at a much slower pace.

As he moves, Asuna's voice, desperate and sounding like she was on the verge of crying, cuts through the air, "Stop it, Sugou! Just leave her alone already!"

He tenses up. There was only one other player up there with Asuna, which meant the 'her' Asuna was talking about was likely Marzanna, and  _that_  in and of itself meant that the admin, likely Sugou, was  _doing_ _ **something**_  to her. Likely something Very Bad if it was making Asuna cry.

He chances a peek over the top of the 'wall' and immediately his blood feels like it's boiling with fury. Asuna was in the cage, as he'd expected, clutching the bars with a look of desperation and teary eyes. Across from the door to her cage, Marzanna was strung up by her wrist with what looked like vines, and kept from moving too much by even more vines that snaked all over her body. It was also easy to see why he hadn't seen her in the picture of Asuna in the cage. The vines holding her seemed to be growing out of a single branch that wrapped around her in a loose spiral about a foot from her body. Up close like now, it was easy to see Marzanna inside, but between the branch and the vines and from the distance the photo had been taken from, she'd have been basically impossible to spot.

That, however, wasn't what made him freeze up even as fury began to burn through him. No, what did  _that_  was the dozens of daggers buried in various spots on his mate's body and what looked like a circlet of broken glass cutting into her head. He now knew what nefarious reason Sugou had for turning off the pain absorption system. That motherfucker was  _ **torturing**_  his mate. He was a dead man walking. It was as simple as that.  _ **No one**_  got away with hurting his mate like that.

It's only due to the way he focuses on Sugou with sudden  **murderous rage**  that he notices him turn to Asuna with a creepy grin, "Oh come now, Asuna. Do you really want me to stop playing with her so badly? I'll just play with you instead."

Asuna's grip on the bars tightens and she glares at him, but before she can say anything, Marzanna speaks up despite sounding out of breath, "D… Don't you touch her, you fucking-"

He waves a finger and 'tsks' in an admonishing manner before cutting her off, "Now, Now. Don't be like that." Pushing a button on the menu Kirito only just realized he had open, Sugou materializes another of the serrated daggers before continuing, "A young lady shouldn't speak so crudely. It's  _uncivilized_."

He punctuates the last word by stabbing the dagger into her stomach, and Marzanna grunts slightly in pain before snorting, "Uncivilized? That's rich, coming from a hypocritical asshole like you, mind you being hypocritical is so common in humans-"

Sugou suddenly slaps her, his avatar's face twisted in fury, "Don't you dare talk down to me like that, you filthy  _whore_. I'm-" He cuts himself off and takes a deep breath to compose himself, "I'm  _nothing_  like any of you pathetic cockroaches that crawl at my feet. I'm better than  _all of you_!" Marzanna starts laughing at that, enraging Sugou again, "Are you  _ **laughing**_  at me?!"

Finally getting a hold of himself, Kirito slowly pulls his swords then begins to move closer again with equal care, though he carefully keeps an eye on things. Marzanna's head had tilted back with her laughter, but she lowers it to stare Sugou down in clear amusement, "Yes, I am. That's one of the funniest things I've ever heard. You? Better than me? Than Kirito? You're nothing but a pathetic little man who desperately seeks power because you have  _none_."

Sugou stares at her furiously for a moment, then angrily materializes another dagger. Without hesitation, he stabs it into her chest, then starts pulling and twisting the blade, "Just try and laugh at me again, you little bitch. I  _dare_  you."

Marzanna had let out another grunt at the pain before tilting her head back with her eyes squeezed shut when he started moving the dagger but hadn't given any other sort of reaction. Kirito grits his teeth in furious frustration at the fact he's still too far away to chance anything and that if he moves too much faster he'll likely draw attention.

A moment later he's pulled from those thoughts as Marzanna suddenly mutters something unintelligible, causing Sugou to frown, "What was that?" Marzanna mutters it again, and Sugou leans in close, "I can't hear you. Speak up!"

Marzanna lifts her head enough to look at Sugou then without warning, lurches her head forward sharply, head butting Sugou  _hard_. Sugou cries out in pain, not only from the impact itself, but also from the glass cutting into him. Marzanna grins lightly, "I  _said_ , you're a pansy ass  _bitch_."

Sugou glares furiously, "You little fucking  _whore_!" Just as he's reaching to create another blade, he pauses then smirks. Worrying calm, he materializes his dagger and begins to idly toy with it as he casually speaks, "You know, other than the fact people wouldn't want to play VRMMOs if you could actually feel the pain from your injuries, there is another reason for the existence of a pain absorption system. The mind is a powerful thing really. Do a good enough job of convincing it that your body is injured, and it has adverse side effects. Oh, that isn't to say the injury suddenly becomes real, not at all, but it isn't something you want your body to experience. However, as you should know by now, I have the pain absorption system turned completely off. What do you suppose is happening to your body, hmm? What do you suppose would happen if I stabbed you in the heart? I doubt it'd kill you, unless you have a heart problem, but I still wonder. I know! How about we find out!"

As he said the last word, Sugou stabs the dagger straight into her heart. Marzanna lurches with a ragged breath, then groans as Sugou twists and pulls at the dagger like he had the previous one, only noticeably slower.

Sugou smiles sadistically, "Aww. You didn't scream. You haven't screamed or cried out once this entire time, but I was sure that of all things that would get you to. Oh well, I have nowhere to be anytime soon, so we have all day. I'll get you to scream eventually."

Kirito grits his teeth furiously at those words, but he's  _finally_  close enough. Quickly straightening and moving out from behind the 'wall' in one smooth motion, he throws one of his swords at Sugou as he rushes towards him and immediately draws one of his throwing picks as soon as his sword leaves his hand. The older man shrieks like a banshee when Kirito sword buries itself into his side, very nearly drowning out his mate and friend's happy shouts of his real and screen name respectively. Much as he'd like to stop and check on his mate, the  _only_  plan he'd been able to come up with to deal with an admin under the present circumstances was to use the lack of the pain absorption system against Sugou, so he can't let up for a moment.

It's with that in mind that he tackles Sugou, who seems in too much pain to do much of anything. Pinning the sword still skewered into Sugou's side with one of his knees to make sure it doesn't move, then stabs his throwing pick into the  _bastard's_  eye for good measure.

Satisfied that the sobbing mess of a man, and he used that term  _loosely_ , wouldn't try anything, he calls for his daughter, "Yui, go! Asuna first, she can help get your mama down safely."

Sugou makes a sound that's half pain half fury and tries to shove Kirito off, so he viciously stabs his other sword straight through his head. Sugou makes a choked noise and spasms momentarily like he's having a seizure, then seems to pass out. An observation backed up by the fact he's automatically logged out a few seconds later.

Kirito stares at the empty space beneath him for a moment in shock, then collects his pick and sword, "Well… If I'd known all I had to do was stab him in the head while the pain absorption system was off to knock him out, I'd have done that from the get go…"

Then again, maybe not. Stabbing him in the eye after seeing what he'd done to Kirito's god damned  _ **mate**_  was  _immensely_   _ **satisfying**_. So, probably not. Shaking his head at the pathetic bastard that had in fact been little more than all talk, Kirito sheaths his swords as he stands up, then turns to his girls in time to see Asuna helping Marzanna down while Yui changes back into her regular form.

Their daughter barely waits for Marzanna to regain her footing before flinging herself at her for a hug, accidentally hitting some of the knives but missing Marzanna's tiny wince, "Mama!"

She noticeably forces herself to ignore the pain to properly pick up their daughter and clutch her to her chest, "Yui! Oh, I've missed you so much!"

Yui sniffles, "Missed you more. Me and Papa both."

That causes Marzanna to look up at him, and seeing that warm loving smile after so long nearly makes him break down crying, but he holds himself together and moves over to her. He wants to sweep her into his arms and not let go, but he doesn't want to hurt her. With that in mind, he starts pulling out the various knives as gently as he can. She winces more than once as she helps him after she gently sets Yui down.

It's only once all thirty-three of those damnable daggers and the glass circlet, are on the ground and she's scooped their teary eyed daughter back up that he wraps his arms around her waist and cradles his girls to him, though he's shaking with rage and can't bring himself to meet Marzanna's eyes just yet. Thirty-three daggers.  _ **Thirty-three**_. He was late and she was  _ **tortured**_. Sugou was going to  _ **pay**_. He didn't know how exactly just yet, at least not without getting arrested, but he'd be damned if he didn't figure out some way to get back at that bastard for what he did to his  _ **mate**_.

Marzanna lifts his head with one of her hands, then gives him that warm loving smile again, "I guess Asuna, Liz, and I were wrong. I did need my valiant knight to save the day, huh?"

That draws a watery smile from him, "I told you, didn't I? I'd save you if you actually needed it."

She tilts her head slightly as her smile widens, "That you did, and here you are."

He leans forward to rest his forehead against hers, and Yui let's out a happy content sigh from between them. The moment is broken a few seconds later by a pointed cough, drawing their gazes to Asuna, who gives them a tense smile, "I hate to break up the reunion, I really do, but we need to get going. We have no idea how long it will take for Sugou to come to and log back on, and we should  _really_  log ourselves and the other players out before he comes back."

He nods, then reluctantly pulls away from his mate, "Right. First things first, we need to find an admin system console to log you guys out."

Asuna nods, "I know where one is. It's where I got the card from, it's in the… Well, the labs."

He nods, "Then lead the way. Yui, you should probably turn back into your Pixie form. You'll be able to keep up better."

She nods reluctantly, then does as asked. Sharing one last glance they take off, Asuna leading the way. He shoots a glance at Asuna's back as they run, "What exactly did you mean by 'lab' anyway? What sort of research could they possibly be doing here?"

Asuna glances back with a grave expression, then faces forward again. She's silent for a minute before she slowly explains, "He told me he was researching mind control. Influencing thoughts, emotions, and memories using signals to the brain. That's what he took the  _other_  players for. They're his  _test subjects_. He took  _me_  because he wanted me out of the way so he could 'marry' me and take over my family and business, and he said that he took  _Marzanna_  because if her family found out who his 'business partners' in this twisted experiment were that he'd be in deep shit. She was his hostage to keep them off his back, just in case."

Marzanna scowls furiously at the last bit then gives a jerky nod of her own, "It's also what that glass circlet was apparently. A representation of where the signals he was generating bombarding  _my_  brain with were coming from."

He stiffens, " _ **What?!**_ "

Marzanna glances at him, then shrugs, "He was forcibly inducing me to feel basically any negative emotion you could think of, but he mostly focused on terror, despair, grief, and pain. Originally I forced myself to put up with it to make sure he wouldn't try anything with Asuna, but after I realized he wouldn't and was tormenting me partially to get to Asuna, I just sorta retreated into my mind and stopped responding to stimulus. Honestly, I've only been aware for a few hours because he stopped bombarding my brain with negative emotions and simply focused on forcing me to wake up. Not that he hadn't tried to forcibly wake me before, but being continuously bombarded with all those negative emotions was a hell of a good incentive to shore up my mental defenses and resist. When he turned that thing off though, I became concerned that he might try and do something to Asuna, so I let him wake me…"

He furrows his brow in slight confusion, "Retreated into your mind?  _Mental defenses_? What…"

She glances over at her mate, "Magic stuff. I'm an Occlumens, the term used for someone who practices the art of Occlumency, the magical method of protecting one's mind from the opposing art Legilimency, the ability to read minds. Occlumency is useful for other things as well, but in this case it worked to seal myself off from what Sugou was doing to me."

Asuna glances back at her, "Kirito knows about magic now? Since when? Does he know about…"

Marzanna grimaces, "No, wasn't really sure how to explain it and it wasn't a good time anyway. Kinda had to tell him about magic when I did because it was right after the whole Heathcliff is actually Kayaba indecent, I told you about Kayaba wanting to talk to us. Couldn't just leave him wondering what the hell was going on, considering I'd been bleeding all over the place…"

Asuna nods in understanding, and he can't help but glance between the two, wondering what it was that he  _still_  doesn't know. Seeing his glances, Marzanna gives him a look halfway between a grimace and an apologetic 'later', which he accepts with a nod.

Arriving at their destination, they slow down as he and Marzanna look around in horror, while Asuna gazes around with a mixture of sorrow and fury. The scene itself might not seem particularly horrifying to someone who didn't know what it was, but they could both make an educated guess as to what the tubes with holographic displays of brains were. It was one thing to  _hear_  that three hundred people were being inhumanly experimented on, but it was another thing entirely to see these 'pods' and realize exactly what was happening to their fellow SAO survivors, people who'd already been through  _enough_  and deserved to just go  _home_.

Recollecting herself, Asuna marches over to what looks like a floating cube with a keyboard attached, "It's about time we send everyone back home and log out of this nightmare."

He bites his lip unsurely, "... I'm not sure we should. Log everyone else out that is."

Asuna whirls around to stare him down with horrified fury, "Kirito! Why the  _ **fuck**_  shouldn't we?!"

He holds up his hands in a placating gesture, "If we log everyone else out, we won't have any evidence. A good lawyer could claim that I'm a misguided teenager with paranoid delusions after what happened in SAO. It's already known that waking up after long term use of the NerveGear of the like we suffered from can leave people dazed and confused, so all they'd have to say is that I convinced you two of Sugou's nefarious plot while you were confused and disoriented. Sugou and whoever's been helping him would get off without so much as a slap on the wrist and I'd likely be carted off to a mental institution and then where would we be?"

Asuna falters and looks around with a torn expression, but Marzanna just shakes her head, "Though those are valid points, it's not an issue. If Sugou was worried about  _my_  family coming after him should they learn who his 'business partners' are, then I know  **exactly**  who he's been making deals with and that  _alone_  will force the issue to be dealt with in the magic courts rather than the non-magical ones. It will be a simple matter for my family to force the issue and  _make_  him confess his crimes under the effects of a truth potion."

Asuna relaxes and he turns to his mate with wide eyes, "Wait, that's actually a real thing?!  _ **Fucking hell**_! If I'd  _known_   **that**  I could've just told Lily when he threatened you and this whole mess likely could've been cleaned up days ago! I'm so sorry, I-"

Marzanna just shakes her head and gives him a small smile, "It's not your fault. You're new to this whole magic thing, you couldn't have known. It's in the past anyway, and nothing good ever comes from trying to change it. Paradoxes and all."

He nods, reluctantly accepting her words, then freezes, "Wait, you can actually go back in time with magic?!"

Marzanna laughs, "Yes. With the use of a Time Turner. Nifty things, but  _ **heavily**_  regulated considering the damage one could do if not careful."

He stares at her, then grumbles, "And here I've spent the past two and a half months constantly reminding myself that magic probably isn't capable of all that stuff you see in media…"

His mate laughs brightly. He can't help but smile widely, just taking in her laughing face and letting the sound of her laughter wash over him. She returns his smile with a warm loving one of her own. God, he'd  _ **missed**_  his mate so  _ **much**_. It was like there had been a heavy weight in his chest slowly suffocating him that abruptly disappeared allowing him to freely breathe in crisp clean air. Like his eyes had been gouged out, leaving him stumbling in the dark and they'd suddenly been restored to see the beauty of the world once more. Like a limb had been ripped off leaving-

"God, you two are sickeningly in love." Yanked rather rudely from their 'moment', he and his mate turn to find Asuna staring them down with a deadpan expression while Yui smiles happily from where she hovered over their friend's shoulder. Asuna shakes her head at them, "Honestly, I'm glad you two are reunited and all, really I  _am_ , but having a full blown 'silently stare deeply into each other's eyes with wide dopey loving smiles as you realize how good it is to be back together' moment? We're supposed to be doing something, in case you forgot, and for the life of me I can't figure out how to log the other players out!"

She gestures to the cube and keyboard, which has gained a holographic display since he'd last looked, with frustrated anger at the last bit. Kirito blushes, then clears his throat and gets a hold of himself. Striding over to the cube and keyboard, and rapidly begins typing. After a moment, he huffs, "Password protected of course."

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Asuna slump slightly, then Marzanna pokes her head over his shoulder, "Can you get past it?"

He turns to look at his mate, "Can I get past it?  _Can I get past it?_  Really?"

She shrugs lightly, "You managed to save Yui. I thought it was a fair question."

He huffs again, "So little faith in me.  _Of course_  I can get past it. I'm  _already_  past it. Really, they have rather terrible security. Though to be fair, considering  _where_  I'm doing this from, I'm likely already past the bulk of their security just by doing this from an admin system console." Upon getting a prompt, he pulls the card from his pocket and slots it back in place, then finishes logging all the kidnapped players out. He nods with a satisfied smile, "There, done. You two just need to come over here and log yourselves out now, and all of this will nearly be over."

Asuna glances at Marzanna, but she just smiles at their friend, "Go on, I'll be right behind you, I just..."

Asuna nods in understanding, then quickly moves forward and happily logs herself out. He turns to his mate, only for her to grab his coat harshly and yank him into a desperate kiss that he eagerly returns as he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her close. When they finally separate, she rests her forehead against his with a content sigh, "I missed you so much. The only thing that's been stopping me from doing that was worry for Asuna and the other players…"

He smiles lovingly at her, then pulls away slightly to press a kiss to her forehead, "Go on. The sooner I know you're out of this place and safe, the sooner I can relax and the happier I'll be."

With a sigh she reluctantly pulls away from him her hand dropping to hold his before she reluctantly let's go and mimics Asuna, but she hesitates on the log out confirmation screen, and turns her gaze to him again as she gives him a longing look, "I'll see you on the other side."

He nods quickly, "I'll log out right after you. Past visiting hours or not, I'll come see you. I promise."

She nods, then with one last moment of hesitation, she clicks the confirmation button and disappears in a rush of bluish white light. It's only after the light dispels and reveals that she's truly gone that the knot in his chest unravels and he lets out a shaky breath. He glances at Yui, "I'm logging out now, but don't worry, I'll come back and see you soon. I promise."

His daughter nods, still smiling happily now that she knows for sure that Marzanna is safe. Opening his menu, it's only seconds before he's looking at the log out confirmation screen. Just before he can click the confirmation button, an exceedingly familiar voice speaks up, "Still vicious as a rabid dog when it comes to her I see."

Whirling around, he silently stares at the man in front of him with wide eyes for a few moments. He'd heard that Kayaba was found dead. Yet the man was standing just a few feet in front of him. Recollecting himself, he scowls, "I won't ever let anyone get away with hurting her."

His words had come out as a hostile growl, but Kayaba doesn't seem bothered as he holds up his hands in a placating manner, "Down boy. I've no intention to hurt her, and you already got me back for that last time. In case you've forgotten, I wasn't even intending to hurt her last time, she put  _herself_  between us."

He narrows his eyes suspiciously, then decides he's telling the truth. His mate is now out of his reach for the moment, so if he'd intended her harm he likely would've shown himself  _before_  she logged out. A moment later he feels Yui grab onto his coat as tightly as her tiny Pixie hands allow. Glancing over he finds her almost entirely hiding behind his shoulder, but peeking out enough to stare at Kayaba fearfully. It's only then that he remembers that Kayaba was the one that created her, only to cruelly ban her from doing exactly what she'd been created  _for_. She was likely terrified he was going to try to delete her.

A moment later his gaze snaps back to Kayaba when he speaks up in an interested tone, "Yui? What are  _you_  doing here? You should've been deleted with Aincrad…"

Yui ducks down and whimpers, "Papa…"

He glances over his shoulder and gives her a reassuring smile, "Don't worry. I won't let him delete you."

Kayaba tilts his head with a fascinated expression, "Papa? Since when did she call you Papa? How'd  _that_  happen?"

He glares at Kayaba, "It's a surprisingly long story involving her bugging out after  _you_   **banned**  her from following her purpose, gaining true sentience, appearing in front of me and Hanna, collapsing from all the bugs, waking with amnesia, somehow getting adopted by us, regaining her memory when we ended up unknowingly visiting a system console, deleting a sub-boss, almost getting deleted because Cardinal flagged her as a foreign entity for disobeying, and me using the tiny window of access from her accessing the console to move her program to my NerveGear before she could be deleted. All in the span of two days."

Kayaba stares at him blankly for a moment, then blinks and tilts his head, now gazing at the two of them like they're fascinating creatures he's never laid eyes on before, "Never a dull day with you and Hanna, is there?"

Still glaring at Kayaba, he replies flatly, "We don't handle boring very well."

Seeming to finally notice Kirito's hostility, he holds up his hands again, "Relax. I'm not going to delete her, nor am I going to take her from you. If she truly is sentient, she's free to do as she wishes. If that's staying with you and Hanna, so be it."

He narrows his eyes at the older man, "Then get to the point. You wouldn't have just shown up for no reason."

Kayaba nods, and quite abruptly a golden glowing egg appears before Kirito, hovering in midair. Kirito frowns at it in confusion, "... What is it?"

Kayaba smiles slightly, "A program. It's downloading to your NerveGear now. What I want is for you to open it." Seeing his suspicious look, Kayaba chuckles lightly, "You really are starting to get paranoid, you know that? Don't worry, it's not a virus or anything of the sort. Yui can tell you that much." He glances at his daughter, and she hesitantly flies out to lay a hand on it before nodding in confirmation. Kayaba nods, "See? Nothing harmful."

Kirito gives him a confused look, "What exactly am I supposed to  _do_  with it once I open it? Why are you giving it to  _ **me**_  anyway?"

Kayaba tilts his head, "Because you were one of the few people who appreciated that world and could see past being trapped with death looming over you to see its beauty. As for what you do with it…" He shrugs lightly, "That's up to you. I just want you to open it, to see what it is. From there on? It's entirely your choice. Delete it, sell it, distribute it for free. It's yours to do with as you see fit." Without another word, he turns and begins walking away, giving a lazy wave over his shoulder, "Until next time, Kirito."

Just like that, he's gone. He stares at where the older man had been mere seconds ago, then turns his baffled gaze onto the golden egg, "... Yui. Has it finished downloading?"

His daughter shakes herself from whatever path her thoughts had been taking, "Yes. It's been successfully downloaded to your NerveGear. I can't tell you what it actually is though. I honestly can't tell, other than it's nothing malicious or harmful…"

He nods slowly, "Ok…" Then he shakes off the weird encounter, "I'll look at it later. I'm going to go see Hanna now."

Yui pulls her gaze from the egg, then smiles widely at him, "Ok. I'll see you later, Papa!"

He smiles at her one last time before finally clicking the log out confirmation button. As the world begins to disappear in its usual rush of color eager anticipation to  _finally_  meet up with his mate on the other side fills him. It was about god damned time they got to start the rest of their lives together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1): You cannot convince me he didn't create a sonic boom here, because the altitude barrier is above the clouds. I'll admit that we obviously aren't given things like the altitude of Alne or the clouds, but we can probably assume that with the scale of ALO, they would probably fall into the high altitude category for clouds, which ranges from 5,000 meters to 13700 meters. Now, the middle ground for this would be 9,350 meters, but for simplicity's sake, let's say the developers rounded it off to 10,000 meters (which is why I'm using meters despite being American, because the developers would be Japanese and use the metric system), and we already know that the altitude limit is right above that. So, that gives us the end altitude, but what about the starting point? Again, we obviously don't get an altitude for Alne, but Alne doesn't seem to be particularly cold or particularly hot, so we can probably assume that it's got a rather average altitude. Sadly the internet doesn't have an average city altitude anywhere online, but what I could find was the averages for the top ten highest and top ten lowest altitude countries, and the average altitude from those is 1260 meters. Let's be a bit generous and say that Alne has an altitude of 1300 meters, which by the way would give Alne a yearly average temperature of 59 degrees Fahrenheit or 15 degrees Celsius, which is right what we're looking for. I actually rewatched that part of the episode and stared at the time stamp and it takes Kirito approximately 24 seconds to reach the altitude barrier. That means that Kirito traveled roughly 8,700 meters in 24 seconds, or 362.5 meters per second, or 8,10 miles per hour, or 1,305 kilometers an hour, or 71,458 feet per minute, however you want to slice it, but no matter how you'd like his speed given to you, it's just above Mach 1. Mach 1.057 actually. So no, if any of you are dubious about this, you cannot convince me that Kirito wouldn't have made a sonic boom. Especially since that's actually programmed into the game. In the light novel version of the scene where Kirito saves Leafa from the three Salamanders, she expressly says he moves so fast that he creates a sonic boom, but I chose to drop that because it seemed like overkill to me, seeing as one of the key factors for damage in ALO is speed.
> 
> (2): I made a bit of a mistake a few chapters ago. Short version, Kirito should've had more money to give to Sakuya and Alicia Rue. Long version, canonically, Kirito had enough to almost cover the costs for the raid, but that was with him being a solo player for the majority of the game. Fic wise though, he had Hanna the entire game, which would've allowed him to take higher risks. There's also the fact married couples share inventory and money in game, so the funds he handed off would've been both his and his spouse's, whether Asuna in canon or Marzanna in fic. While Asuna has the advantage of being able to make larger parties with guild members, with how focused she was on just winning the game, I feel like she wouldn't have gone out of her way for anything not necessary for that goal, whereas Hanna would not only be more likely to do such things, but also grinds with Kirito at night in the labyrinths, so she'd definitely have more money. As for how I forgot to add that in despite having already planned that? I tend to watch the episodes as I'm writing to make sure I don't accidentally miss anything, pausing to write every so often. While I was writing the part where Kirito is talking to the Lords I got too focused on the show and forgot to edit that bit. My apologies. I'll go back and fix it soon.


	35. Waking Up, AKA: The Time Kazuto Straight Up Murdered Someone… Almost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, finally got this chapter out. I'll try to get back on schedule and upload the next one on time.

Considering the transition from virtual reality to the real world was usually almost instant, she came to surprisingly slowly. Consciousness coming first, her senses slowly returning to her next, and control of her body coming last. It was like her brain had gotten so used to the signals the NerveGear sent her that it was struggling to accept the data from her senses on the world around her. It took what felt like hours, but was likely only ten minutes, before she could push her eyes open and try to take in her hospital room with blurry sight.

As her vision clears, she slowly pushes herself up into a sitting position. Between her natural healing ability granted by her heritage and the healing potions her mother and Uncle Severus made for the handful of times that process needed to be sped up more, she'd honestly never been to a hospital before. It was a bit different than what she was expecting, but not by much.

Pulling off the NerveGear, she distantly hears a commotion building, from what little she could make out, it was from the nurses realizing the kidnapped players were waking up. Someone would likely be by to check on  _her_  soon, but she honestly didn't care one way or another. Kazuto had saved the other players, it wasn't her concern anymore, and she didn't much care for the idea of being treated like glass by the hospital staff.

Ignoring the lingering phantom pain from Sugou's daggers, she carefully removes the IV, tugs the heart monitor off, pulls her blanket off, then slides out of bed, stumbling on unsteady legs at first, before regaining her balance. Wandering over to the window and shifts the curtain out of the way to get her first look at the real world in over two years. Seeing the snow outside reminds her of her mate, and she immediately reaches for their connection, wondering if their bond was strong enough for her to feel him getting closer. She instantly drops the curtains as horror creeps in as she realizes she can barely feel their bond. It's dull and muted, like there's a thick wet blanket smothering it.

As the panic begins to overwhelm her, the firm tone of a soothing female voice cuts through her shock, " _Mistress. Calm yourself. Your mate is fine. From what I have gathered, it was necessary to mute the bond for your mate's safety. If your mate was dead the bond wouldn't be muted, it would be ragged and torn, a hole in your mind. That it is whole and smooth speaks of his good health, regardless of how well you can feel it."_

She jerks at the unexpected voice, then looks around the hospital room nervously. It had been a while since anyone that wasn't part of her family had been able to sneak up on her, and the idea that her two years in SAO had dulled her and left her vulnerable to attack made her nervous.

Swallowing nervously, she straightens her back, then calls out with more confidence than she feels, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

Again, that female voice that  _feels_   _oh_  so  _ **familiar**_  but she  **knows**  she's never heard resonates around her, " _There is no reason to be so nervous, Mistress. I would_ _ **never**_   _harm you, but if it will make you feel better…"_

There's a ripple in the air in front of her, and then a woman appears. She was rather elegant and beautiful, with her raven black hair pulled into simple low twintails, blood red eyes and lips, and eyes which though firm, shined with understanding, wisdom, warmth. When she graces Marzanna with a small smile, she gets the impression that though not necessarily  _unhappy_  the older looking woman tends to be reserved enough that the smallness of the fond smile being given to her is typical of the older woman. Marzanna had never laid eyes on the woman in her life, and yet- And yet she seemed so…. familiar. Like an old friend Marzanna hadn't seen in years.

Before either of them can say anything, the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching causes Marzanna to cast a wandless notice-me-not instinctively seconds before a few nurses come hurrying in with a defibrillator. They pause when they see her empty bed before one of them twitches with an irritated expression, " _Again_? Are you  _ **kidding**_  me?! First that little boyfriend of her's and now her?"(1) She gives an aggravated sigh, then turns to the two other nurses, "If her boyfriend is any indication, she's likely just wandering around looking for him or their friends. Just go start checking on the other players and we'll likely find her. I'll return the defibrillator."

The other two nod before hurrying off, and the last one turns off the heart monitor before leaving with the defibrillator, grumbling all the while.

The woman stares at the closed door with slight amusement for a moment, then turns back to Marzanna and dips her head in a small bow, "As I was about to say, does being able to see me make you more comfortable Mistress?"

Marzanna shifts slightly **,** not quite sure how to respond to that, "... Why do you keep calling me that? I don't know you, and I'm certainly not your mistress."

The woman's smile slips away sadly, "You truly don't recognize me, Mistress?"

Marzanna pauses momentarily, "... You- You  _seem_  familiar, I'll give you that, but I don't know."

The woman sighs lightly, her gaze shifting to the floor sadly, "I suppose I should've expected that…"

For some reason, despite being a stranger, the woman's sadness is like a knife to the gut. It leaves her confused and unsure because this woman  _is_  a stranger, yet she doesn't  _ **feel**_  like one, "I… I'm sorry…. I'm really sorry, but I really don't know you."

The woman lifts her gaze, "Except you do. I've… grown into something...  _more_  than I was for the longest time, but we've been together for over ten years. I was there when you were just six and learning how to fight. I was there when you bonded with Aite and Hedwig. I was there when you bonded with Pandora's Box and when you finally received it later. I was there when you finally got to go to a school for magic and began being discriminated against. I was there the first time you Devil Triggered. I came to your aid in defense of your mate against Kuradeel and Heathcliff."

Marzanna's eyes widen in shock as she finally begins to place the familiarity with the woman, "...  _ **Shuraba**_? Is… Is that really you?"

The woman,  _ **Shuraba**_ , smiles slightly again, "Mistress. It's… good to finally be able to meet like this. To talk."

Marzanna nods slowly, "Yes. Yes, it is…." Finally wrapping her head around it, her confusion and curiosity burst like a dam, "But  _ **how**_?! Grandma never said anything about Nephilim blades being sentient! Semi-sentient, yes, but  _ **fully**_? Not that this is a  **bad**  thing, per say, but-"

Shuraba shakes her head lightly, "I honestly don't know, Mistress. It may have just been a secret your grandmother's Nephilim friends never passed onto her, but perhaps… Perhaps I am merely as much of an anomaly as you and your family, Mistress. I wasn't like this from the beginning after all, it was only recently that I began to… grow... I… heard you. Your desperation for your mate, to stop Kuradeel. It… changed me. For the first time since I'd been forged, I wanted more than just to be with you. I wanted-  _needed_  to stop the pain growing in your heart… And afterward, I was filled with immense satisfaction I'd never experienced before. It didn't  _stop_  though, I continued to grow,  _slowly_  but steadily. Then you called on my mental form against Heathcliff, against Kayaba, and the gradual pace ceased. I… snapped, I suppose you could say, into full sentience all at once. It was… very disorienting."

Marzanna flushes, her gaze shifting towards the floor, "I'm sorry…"

Shuraba shakes her head again, "Don't be sorry my Mistress. It may have been disorienting, but I wouldn't give up  _this_ , the opportunity to be capable of  _speaking_  to you, of being able to help you more than ever, for  _anything_  in the world, except perhaps the eternal safety of you and those you care for so you never have to hurt physically or mentally again. The discomfort and disorientation of basically snapping into existence all at once is worth it."

Marzanna nods slowly before something occurs to her, "What about the others? Arbiter, Osiris, Eryx, and Aquila?"

Shuraba smiles slightly, but before she can actually say anything, another female voice cuts through the air from nowhere, " _Oh, so_ _ **now**_   _she thinks to ask about us! Not back when Shuraba told her about snapping into existence, oh_ _ **no**_ _, gotta make sure_ _ **Shuraba**_   _is ok first!"_

Marzanna flinches at the accusation. She'd like to dispute it, but the truth was that Shuraba  _did_  always seem to come first in her mind, being the primary form and the one Marzanna was most familiar with. Shuraba scowls, but she's once again cut off before she even has a chance to say anything, " _You can scowl at me all you want, but don't you even_ _ **think**_   _about chastising me! You may be the primary, but you are_ _ **not**_   _my boss! The only one I even_ _ **vaguely**_   _answer to is Marzanna! That said…"_

The air ripples again, then another woman, younger looking that Shuraba, but still slightly older than Marzanna, appears next to Shuraba. She's pale as well, with long dark teal hair that's loose in the front and pulled into a high ponytail that's off center and stylishly messy all around, bright ice blue eyes, and an air of arrogance around her.

She scowls, "I may answer to you and you alone,  _Marzanna_ , but despite how Shuraba prefers to refer to you, that  _ **doesn't**_  make you my  _master_. You seriously suck too much to ever even  _consider_  it. You're way weaker compared to the rest of your family  _ **despite**_  having the advantage of  _us_ , you hardly ever actually  _think_  about us, and when you do eighty percent of the time it's ' _Shuraba_  this' and ' _Shuraba_  that'! You-"

Shuraba abruptly smacks her on the back of her head, cutting off her rant. She glares furiously at Shuraba before seeming to notice Marzanna's downcast gaze, the way she's just taking it because she really  _does_  deserve her anger. She really hadn't been that great to her blade and its forms, especially the others that  _weren't_  Shuraba. They were her partners, yet she'd treated them as just another piece of gear, like her guns.

She's awkwardly silent for a few moments, then crosses her arms and looks away with a huff, "Not that you're the  _worst_  wielder we could have, but still, there's definitely room for improvement..." Then she glances at Marzanna and seems to grow angry, "Stop looking so pitiful already! No  _wielder_  of  _ **mine**_  should ever be so- so pathetic!"

Marzanna tilts her head as she observes the other… personality. She was pretty sure that was supposed to be an apology, despite its' backhanded nature, but then again, this one seems too prideful to give a straightforward apology and therefore apply she was in the wrong.

The woman scowls angrily, " **Hey!**  Who you calling prideful, you little-"

Shuraba cuts her off, "You  _are_  far too prideful. She's only observing the truth."

Marzanna sighs. She doesn't necessarily have anything to  _hide_  from her weapons, but she apparently needed to figure out if it was possible to keep her thoughts to herself, if for nothing else than privacy's sake.

The other woman huffs, "That would be very much appreciated."

Marzanna scowls at her weapons'… personalities. It's not like she had any control over them hearing her thoughts. At least not  _yet_. For that matter though, which one was this? She was fairly certain this was one of the angelic forms, but was it Aquila or Osiris?

Shuraba tilts her head, "Ah, this is-"

The other woman cuts her off angrily, "No. You stop right there. I want to know if she can even tell us apart when we aren't in our weapon forms. Go on then.  _Try_  to figure it out."

Marzanna purses her lips at that. That was rather unfair. Her weapons had only been semi-sentient before, and they'd been  _weapons_ , not humanoid, so she really didn't have much to go on. The woman before her sneers, clearly picking up on the thought, and Shuraba gives the woman a dirty look.

Focusing, she tries to figure it out on the little information she'd had before. Angelic obviously, so that meant either Osiris or Aquila. Reaching across the bond to her Nephilim blade, she tries to get a feel for the woman in front of her. It doesn't really help much. There's the arrogance and pride she'd already noticed. She felt… hot-headed, clearly had a short fuse. Defiant. A bit bitter, perhaps a touch of jealousy? Then finally, she noticed the thing that gave it away instantly. A faint undercurrent of bloodlust. Only one of her weapons had  _always_  been eager to hunt.

With confidence, she smiles lightly at the other woman, "Osiris. It's nice to meet you."

The other woman, Osiris, snorts before muttering, "Lucky guess. I mean, it  _was_  fifty-fifty."

Shuraba sighs in exasperation, "Why can you not simply accept that our Mistress knows us better than you realize? That we've  _always_  mattered to her? She's always been good to us, whether you wish to accept it or not."

Osiris scowls again, "Easy for you to say. You're the  _primary_. The favorite." Marzanna reaches for Osiris pleadingly, wanting to dispute that. Just because Shuraba was the primary it didn't mean that she meant  _more_  to Marzanna than the rest of them. She doesn't get a chance to verbalize it though, as Osiris pulls away sharply with a glare, "If you really think that you're delusional."

Without another word, she vanishes as abruptly as she appeared. Marzanna slowly drops her hand, "... Why is she so  _angry_  at me… I…. I haven't really favored you over the rest, have I?"

Shuraba sighs, "I don't think so… And neither do the others, but Osiris… She's bitter that it was  _me_  you called for both times you needed to defend your mate, and that it was a  _Falcata_  you've used these past two years. She knows it will be harder for you to relearn to use  _all_  of us, rather than simply rely on me after those two years…"

Marzanna wraps her arms tightly around herself, mentally apologizing to her other weapon's personalities. A snort cuts through her mind before a rough female voice speaks up, " _Don't fucking apologize for that uppity bitch. You've done nothing wrong, Marzanna. The_ _ **rest**_   _of us fucking understand why you picked a Falcata, switching between weapons on the fly just wasn't fucking reasonable in that game, and as the primary you've got more experience with Shuraba. Neither do the rest of us blame you for calling on Shuraba, again she's the primary, so unless the situation calls for something else, of_ _ **course**_   _you're going to fucking call for her. Granted, that first time you called her into that game, Aquila would've been more suitable as a throwing weapon, but you weren't_ _ **actively**_ _trying to call her that time and Aquila doesn't blame you, do you, Aquila?"_

There's a small sigh before a crisp no nonsense voice replies, " _No, I don't, but would it kill you to act a bit more dignified, Arbiter? Good heavens, you act like an uncivilized_ _ **barbarian**_ _. Cursing every other word it seems like."_

There's a wordless offended noise before Arbiter responds, " _ **Barbarian?!**_   _I am not a fucking barbarian you prissy little-"_

Marzanna can't help by sigh at that. Having multiple voices constantly talking and arguing in her head despite  _not_  being insane was going to take some  **serious**  getting used to. It's weirdly quiet after that before Arbiter mutters, " _Sorry. We'll try to keep it down."_

Marzanna flushes at having momentarily forgotten that they could hear all her thoughts, "No, no. It's alright. You guys are free to do whatever you want. Talk all you'd like… Just, maybe try and keep it down until we can figure out how to keep you guys from hearing my thoughts or me from hearing you guys talking to each other? Don't get me wrong, though shocking, I'm happy about this development, it's just going to be a bit hard to concentrate if I'm constantly hearing you guys talking…"

Aquila speaks up again, " _Of course, Lady Marzanna. We shall endeavor not to distract you."_

The address takes her by surprise for a moment, but she brushes it off as merely Aquila's preference. Shuraba called her Mistress after all.

Shaking off the strange revelation and weird conversation, she glances out the window again. She doesn't see Kazuto, but now that the distracting conversion was over, her anxiety and fear were beginning to creep up on her again. Unable to stay put any longer, she quickly reapplies her notice-me-not just in case, then leaves the hospital room, Shuraba disappearing back into her mind as she does.

Following the signs, she quickly makes her way to an elevator, pressing the down button with barely a glance. As soon as the doors open, she hurries inside, then looks over the buttons. Locating the button for the ground floor easily enough, she reaches out to push it, then pauses as she finally notices the appearance of her hand, looking herself over she realizes the rest of her body seems like little more than skin and bones as will. Of course, she more than most knows that appearances can be deceiving, and can sense the illusion clinging to her body. It was definitely Uncle Virgil's magic. She had no doubt that her own magic, demonic, and angelic powers had been working hard since she got trapped to slow the atrophy of her muscles, which was likely why the illusion had been cast in the first place. It wouldn't do to have anyone questioning why she was withering away at a much slower rate than all the other hospitalized players after all.

Shaking off the minor discovery, she dispels the mildly disturbing illusion then pushes the button and waits impatiently for the doors to close and the elevator to start moving. When it finally stops on the ground floor, she barely waits for it to open enough before slipping through the doors. Quickly glancing around, she once again follows the hospital signs, this time to the lobby, then slips out the front door.

She smiles again at the fact it was snowing and tilts her head back to watch the little white flakes drift down. Kazuto loved the cold. She didn't really have a preference, but since he enjoyed this kind of weather, she felt it was fitting that they meet in real life for the first time while it was snowing.

Hearing the sound of running she pulls her gaze away from the sky. A huge smile splits her face when she sees it's her mate. However, just as she's about to remove her notice-me-not and call out to him, she sees something move next to a van Kazuto was about to pass. It was a man. As Kazuto goes to pass the van, the man moves out from behind it and makes a sharp movement with his arm towards Kazuto.

Immediately her mate grabs onto his arm, turning towards the man even as he instinctively puts distance between them and lowers his center of gravity into his usual fighting stance despite lacking a weapon. A moment later her enhanced Nephilim senses pick up the smell of blood. It was only then that she noticed the man was in fact,  **Sugou**  and that he was holding a hunting knife. A hunting knife that had fresh blood on it. Her  _ **mate's**_  blood. Fury immediately floods through her. Human or not, he was  _ **dead**_. With that in mind, she begins steadily moving over towards them.

Sugou starts walking towards Kirito while murmuring lowly, "You're late, Kirito-kun. What if I ended up catching a cold?"

With fury and hatred, Kazuto acidly spits back, "Actually, I'd be  _quite_   _happy_  if you'd develop fourth-degree frostbite, hypothermia, and keel over  _dead_  and then spend the rest of eternity  _burning_  in  _ **hell**_  and  _wishing_  you were freezing to death instead."

Sugou tsks, "So  _rude_  and  _violent_  Kirito-kun. As if a piece of trash like you ruining all my hard work and plans and  _stabbing_  me wasn't enough for you. That was quite cruel of you by the way, I can still feel phantoms of the pain."

Kazuto all but snarls at Sugou, " _ **Good**_. If you are, then Marzanna likely is as well, but I would bet being stabbed in the eye and  _brain_  hurts a hell of a lot more than what you did to  _her_."

Technically true, but the phantom pain had faded by the time she'd finished her conversation with her weapons. Likely a quirk of having a body that tends to heal itself as rapidly as hers does. Sugou grins lightly, "I wouldn't be so sure, I did get her in the heart you know.  _That_  has  _got_  to  **hurt**. Here, let me  _show you_!"

Immediately, he tries to stab Kazuto, but the movement is slow and sloppy and Kazuto easily grabs his wrist, and twists it up to disarm him. Catching the knife in a reverse grip with his other hand, her mate doesn't hesitate even a second before driving the blade between Sugou's now exposed ribs, then yanks it out.

Sugou stumbles back a couple steps as his hands slowly clutch at the wound in disbelief, "You… You  _stabbed_  me!"

Her mate gives Sugou an incredulous look, "I know, such a novel concept stabbing is. I mean, it's not like you didn't just try to stab  _me_  mere seconds ago, or that you didn't stab my  _mate_   _ **thirty-fucking-three**_  times!"

Sugou coughs wetly, blood appearing between and on his lips, " _You_  stabbed  _ **me**_!"

Her mate sighs in annoyed exasperation, " _That's_  what you're getting caught up on? Funny thing really, people don't tend to just stand by and take it when you stab them unless you tie them up like you did my  _mate_. I may not exactly be The Black Swordsman anymore, but you  _really_  should've known better than to hurt what's  _mine_."

Sugou tries to make some sort of noise, likely disbelief, but it comes out as more of a wet gurgle. By now he seems more concerned with staring at his stab wound than with Kazuto, which is fucking  _stupid_  considering he  _still has the knife_ , and he doesn't seem to hear Kazuto anymore.

By now, she's almost reached her mate, having been frustratingly slowed down by her two year coma. Her healing abilities may have slowed the process of atrophy, but it hadn't stopped it entirely, and she hadn't been able to do more than a jog so slow it was less of a jog and more just walking fast.

Of course, it also just  _has_  to be at that moment that she spots something that fills her with dread. Throwing herself forward the last few feet despite the way her body protests and immediately tries to give out, pulling Shuraba from her Devil Bringer in the process, "Down!"

Instinctively, her mate drops down into a crouch before even really registering that she's there. Pressing into his back, she shifts Shuraba into Arbiter. She's  _far_  too weak to wield the heavy axe,  _but_  while her wand would act as a much better conduit, her weapons, being extensions of her, not only  _took_  any magic  _she_  applied to them very well, but amplified the spells she placed on them naturally. So she could easily just rest the massive blade on its end and cast a protego maxima on it to use as reinforced cover for them.

Arbiter has barely finished shifting and touched the ground before the sound of dozens of pieces of metal ricocheting off the axe and shield in rapid fire cuts through the air. Immediately she winces. Not even an hour after finding out about their sentience and she's back to using them like she always has without even considering how it makes them feel.

Before she even gets a chance to send a mental apology to her axe, Arbiter snorts, " _Don't be fucking stupid. It's not like we can feel pain in these forms. We're_ _ **weapons**_ _. We're_ _ **meant**_   _to be used to block and attack and all that shit. Just protect yourself and your fucking mate and don't fucking worry about us."_

She sighs in relief at the potential disaster of alienating her own soul bound weapon's personalities resolving itself immediately, but only a second later is yanked back to the present by her mate crying out incredulously, " _ **Marzanna?!**_  What the hell's going on?! Why are you out here?!"

She grunts as Arbiter begins to lose balance and tip towards them under the onslaught and her arm begins to strain, "Not exactly the time for this! But, uh, bare basics? That's a Harpy demon, and yes, I mean an honest to god, actually from the fiery pits of hell demon."

Her mate gapes at her incredulously over his shoulder, then noticing her plight, immediately reaches out to straighten Arbiter, then pushes up against it to brace it. Giving her mate a grateful smile, even though he can't see it with his back to her, she finally turns her gaze to their assailant.

It was very clearly a Harpy demon. Normally they prefer to use the weapons mounted on their arms, which can extend rather far rather  _fast_  to spear enemies, but with both  _her_  mate and Sugou clumped together, it had probably been too tempting a target. Which explained why she'd fallen back on the  _extremely_  rarely used ability Harpy demons had to turn their feathers metal and launch them. They didn't often use the tactic, as turning their feathers metal forced them to be land bound and slowed them considerably. Generally a bad thing for the weak speed reliant Harpys.

It all but proved her suspicion correct though. Sugou  _had_  been making deals with demons. He  _really_  should've known they wouldn't keep their end of whatever bargain they'd made, and that they'd dispose of him as soon as he was no longer useful. The problem now, was that she was physically weakened to the point that she couldn't even  _run_ , much less  _fight_ , and now she and her mate were under assault by a demon. Even if it was generally a weaker type, she was still pretty screwed at the moment.

The Harpy glares at her in hatred. They both knew she couldn't keep up the assault forever, at the rate she was going, she'd likely run out of feathers in another minute or two, then have to wait another minute before her wings regenerated. At that point though,  _she_  could quickly move to a different position to assault them from, whereas she would have problems moving to different cover quickly, and Arbiter and her shield would be  _far_  less effective if the Harpy got higher ground, even if she just got on top of the van. That's not even mentioning that Kazuto was human and probably still recovering to a small extent and that she had only  _just_  woken from her coma and therefore that they'd both tire from having to brace Arbiter against her assault  _very_  quickly. She couldn't even really use her guns right now, because the feathers are too numerous to risk coming out from behind her cover even slightly, and once the feathers  _were_  gone, the Harpy would likely be to hit. And that's not even  _mentioning_  how well her atrophied body would handle the recoil of her guns.

No, she really wasn't in any state to even protect  _herself_  properly, much less protect herself, her mate,  _and_  take care of the Harpy, but that was what  _family_  was for. To have each other's backs and not only protect each other, but what's important to your family as well. With that in mind, she thrusts her hand in front of Kazuto, "Phone!"

Without hesitation he shoves his hand into his pocket and pulls his phone out, quickly handing it to get without question. She dials the number by heart slightly started to find it's already saved into Kazuto's phone, but she supposes it makes perfect sense that her mom's been looking after and getting to know her mate.

Hoping her mother will pick up despite the late, or rather  _early_  hour, she's immensely relieved when it's answered on the second ring by her worried sounding mom, "Kazuto, wh-"

She cuts her mom off without hesitation, "Woke up! Harpy demon, hospital, Kazuto's here obviously,  _really_  appreciate it if you'd apparate someone here! Now would be  _really_  nice!"

She hadn't spoken to her mother outside of her mindscape through Kikouka's device in over two years, and she'd been in a mysterious coma for an additional two and a half months past the other players waking, so there was a lot to be said between them, a reunion of sorts to happen, but her mother had married into a family that hunts and routinely gets attacked, both in their own home and out of it, by demons.

She  _knows_  what things need to take priority and when they take that priority. So it's entirely unsurprising that her mom snaps into action immediately only giving a quick indication that they're on their way before hanging up. She hands Kazuto his phone, "Calvary is on the way. Minute tops."

It's just as the Harpy runs out of feathers about thirty seconds later that the large 'CRACK' of a hastily done apparation cleaves through the air, depositing her parents into the parking lot. Her dad rushes to deal with the Harpy immediately, while her mom, after quickly locating them, rushes over to make sure they're ok.

She can tell her mom wants to yank her into a hug and possibly not let go for a year, but once again, she knows her priorities, and possible injuries take precedence over joyful hugs and reunions.

Her gaze flickers past them briefly after quickly scanning them with magic then she moves to deal with the only injury, quickly healing cut on Kazuto's arm from Sugou along with cleaning and repairing his coat to remove all traces of the injury, before asking, "What happened?"

She glances at where her mother had looked as she'd forgotten about the dying Sugou entirely in favor of her mate's safety, but was unsurprised to see him littered with metal feathers and  _very_  dead. He hadn't had any cover from the assault after all. She turns back to her mom and grimaces before responding, "Complicated." She glances at Arbiter and knows that while she'll need to talk to her family, especially her grandma, about their full sentience, that now isn't the time despite it definitely being important, "Very complicated and I'm tired. So short version?  _He,_ " She jerks her head at Sugou's body, "kidnapped the player's minds to experiment on them, and kidnapped  _me_  as a hostage to keep you guys off his back in case you realized he'd been making deals with demons and was keeping us all in the VRMMO he ran." She pauses momentarily to figure out how much to tell at the  _moment_  while making sure Kazuto doesn't come off as a psychopath before settling on telling the truth, they'd know eventually after all, " _He_  tortured me a bit at the end, Kazuto went in the game and saved us less than an hour ago, but psycho over there tried to kill him for it. Kazuto stabbed him, hence the knife -which you should probably just drop here Kazuto, the magic clean up crew will take care of everything-, then the Harpy showed up, likely to tie up loose ends. Don't know how they knew psycho had failed, but I don't really care."

Her mom nods, willing to accept just that for the moment. Her mom then quickly applies another illusion to her so as to not arouse suspicion at how little she looks atrophied, and glances up at her own mate, who had easily dealt with the Harpy and had simply been standing guard, "Can you call the magicals and deal with the clean up for me? I know you don't really like doing it and I usually do, but…"

Dante nods, "Course I can. You just get Marzanna back up to her hospital room." Storing her weapon back into her Devil Bringer, she gratefully accepts her mate's help up, but before they can head in, her dad reaches out and ruffles her hair with a warm smile, "I'm glad to have you back kiddo. I'd really been planning on giving you a huge hug, but you've had a rather  _exciting_  hour for someone straight out of a coma. Go get some rest, but don't think you've wiggled your way out of a massive hug."

She smiles tiredly at her dad, "Looking forward to it."

He nods, then moves away, pulling his phone out as he goes. Despite the fact she's fully capable of walking on her own, her mate wraps an arm around her waist and helps her along. She does appreciate it though, as the past hour has been surprisingly tiring. Or perhaps  _not_  so surprising, considering she only  _ **just**_  woke up from a more than two year coma.

Entering the hospital, they, or rather,  _she_  gets weird looks from the nurse manning the desk. Her mother leads them over to her, knowing at least some sort of explanation, "Hi. I realize it's probably  _vary_  strange to see someone already dressed like a patient being brought in, but my daughter here snuck out and I need to return her to her hospital room."

The nurse gives them a sceptical look, so Marzanna wordlessly extends the arm with that patient wristband things, which she had honestly thought might just be a thing they did on tv as a little band of paper around the wrist seemed like an outdated way to identify patients in the modern technological world to her, but she really did have one. The nurse looks it over quickly, then types something into her computer.

Almost immediately she frowns sternly at Marzanna, "It's you! Do you have any idea the scare you've given everyone! They phoned the desk just twenty minutes ago telling me to keep an eye out for you because they couldn't find you!  _How_  did you even get passed me?! You know what, no, that's not important at the moment, you need to get back to your room. Hold on a second."

She leaves quickly, but comes back a moment later with a wheelchair, "You should  _not_  have wandered that far in your state, but you certainly aren't going all the way back up to your room on your own feet, elevators or not. You're lucky you don't seem to have seriously injured yourself already!"

Though the idea of being treated like glass makes her bristle, but she  _is_  extremely tired already, so accepts it with only a glare at the nurse. The nurse huffs at her, then turns to Marzanna's mother, "Can you get her back to her room, or do I need to call another nurse, because I can't leave my station long enough to take her up."

Her mom smiles with a touch of bitterness, "I can get her there just fine. I mean, I  _have_  been going up to that room almost every day for the past two years."

Either not noticing her mom's bitter response, or more likely ignoring it, the nurse simply nods, "Go on then. I'll phone ahead of you so they know she's back. A doctor will be by to look her over shortly."

She sighs in aggravation as her mom pushes her towards the elevators, "I'm  _not_  made of glass. I mean, I will admit that I'm rather tired right now despite only just having woken up, but I've had a surprisingly busy hour, and even still I could've walked back to my room just  _fine_."

Her mom hums, "I know sweetheart, but you also have to remember that we're  _different_  from other people and they don't,  _can't_  know that. Statute of Secrecy and all that. So they're  _going_  to treat you like they'd treat most people, and most people would struggle to even get out of  _bed_  after two years in a coma."

Marzanna grumbles, "I  _ **know**_  that, it's just-"

Her mother sighs, "Frustrating, I know. It won't be for long though. You'll recover  _much_  faster than most people would due to our families… oddities. So we'll have to pull you out of the hospital and have you do your physical therapy with  _private_  trainers."

By which of course, she and her mother meant she'd just go home and recover by working with her dad and Uncle Virgil and using potions to speed things up even further than her heritage would. She could all but  _feel_  her mate's confusion, so she twists around to look at him, "It has to do with those things I need to tell you later."

Kazuto simply nods in understanding, seemingly content to let it go for now as long as he gets an explanation later. Her mom helps her back into her hospital bed when they get there, then glances between them briefly. Sighing, she smiles lightly, "Well, let's be honest here. The nurses will likely make Kazuto leave soon, since it's past visiting hours, and since we're going to have to pull you out of the hospital and keep you at home while you're recovering, you two probably only have a day or two and then it's probably going to be a bit before you'll get to see each other, so I'll just… go get some coffee from the vending machine or something…"

Kazuto blushes lightly, but gives her a grateful smile. After her mom leaves he settles himself on the edge of her bed. He studies her with a peculiar expression, before sighing, "... I was hoping it would be better once you woke up, but it still feels like you aren't really  _here_. It just doesn't feel  _ **real**_. Stupid potion…"

She gives her mate a startled look. She'd noticed that as well of course, but that was because there was something weird going on with their bond, "You… know about the bond? You can  _feel_  that?"

It's her mate's turn to give her a startled look, "Yes, your mom had to tell me. She said it was dangerous for me to be on the brink of changing for such an extended period of time. I ended up having to take a potion that stabilizes me at the cost of the bond becoming muted and dull…. But I'm surprised  _you_  can feel it. I couldn't until it was suddenly  _ **gone**_..."

She smiles sadly at him, "So that's what happened… I'm a practiced occlumens, which makes me very in tune with what's going on in my mind… So I've always been aware of the bond to some extent, even  _before_  we met… That's actually why I went down to the parking lot, I woke up and the bond…." She blushes lightly, then shrugs, "I panicked a bit, worried something had happened to you and was just too anxious to stand around waiting…"

Kazuto lowers his head, "... Sorry. I didn't mean to worry you…"

When he lifts his head, he's got that peculiar expression again, likely still caught up on how the muted bond is affecting things. She tilts her head in thought, "I suppose I could…"

Making a decision, she locks eyes with him and lightly brushes against his mind. Her mate draws in a sharp breath and his eyes tear up as he shifts closer to wrap his arms around her and lean his forehead against her own, "You… You're really here… How- How are you doing that?"

She smiles lightly at him, "I'm nowhere near as good at Legilimency as I am at Occlumency, but simply brushing against an unprotected mind like yours is easy, especially since I'm not actually trying to look at any thoughts or memories… A bond is many things, but what the potion is affecting is the connection between our minds. That's still dull, but I'm directly brushing against your mind with Legilimency, so it doesn't matter all that much at the moment…"

He sighs blissfully, and her heart clenches. She feels absolutely  _terrible_  for what her mate had been having to go through while she was… absent. She tilts her head up, giving him a chaste kiss in silent apology. He seems to understand though, and simply pulls away briefly to shake his head with a sad smile, brushing it off without a word.

They are silent for a while, simply reveling in each other's presence. After a while, she tilts her head up at him, "So… How are things with your family? You were always talking about patching things up with them when we got back."

He smiles warmly, "Really well." Then he laughs lightly, "Actually, believe it or not, my sister, the very same outgoing athletic sister I could  _never_  have seen even playing a casual game, got into  _VRMMOs_."

She laughs, "You're joking!"

He shakes his head, "No, no! I'm not! I'm really not! Apparently, she wanted to see why  _I_  loved them so much and decided she wanted to try them herself and rather than going about it like a  _normal_  person would and getting an  _easy_  game to try out, she grabbed one of the, if not  _the_  hardest VRMMOs on the market!" Some of his good humor seems to leave him, but out doesn't disappear entirely, "Actually, it was the very game you were stuck in. It's called Alfheim Online. She actually helped me save you guys…"

She smiles warmly at him, "Even with the circumstances, it must've been fun to play a VRMMO with your sister."

He grins, "It was. It was actually a lot of fun, circumstances aside."

She lays her head on his shoulder, "What was Alfheim like? I never actually got to see any of it."

He smiles, " _Oh_ , it was fantastic. Gorgeous too… Assuming it doesn't get shut down because of Sugou, I'm going to go back there and play with my sister. We actually managed to find the strongest one handed straight sword in the whole game by accident, but it was in a massive dungeon and we were busy trying to get to you and Asuna, but we made plans to go back there with a party eventually."

Marzanna hums, "Sounds like fun. I'm in."

He pauses, "You sure? After everything that happened there… It'd be understandable if you didn't want to go back."

She lifts her head to gaze at him in bemusement, "Alfheim isn't what kidnapped and trapped me and everyone else. It was where we were  _held_ , but it was still all Sugou's doing in the end. If I can still think of Aincrad as home and miss it despite what Kayaba did to it, Sugou didn't really have much to stand on when it comes to ruining Alfheim." Then she pouts playfully at him, "Unless you don't want me there?"

He laughs lightly, "I'll never  _not_  want you with me anywhere." He seems to turn a bit thoughtful after that, "Hmm, we could invite Klein, he's been getting bored with nothing but work now that he's mostly recovered."

"Diabel. He's a good fighter, and in the meantime while we're grinding up to be strong enough to attempt the dungeon he'll probably relish the chance to truly go all out in fucking with people now that he doesn't have to worry about killing them. I don't really know how many of our other friends would be up for going back into another VRMMO, even if this one's safe…"

He hums lightly, "Well, we could just tell everyone we're going to start playing and see who wants to join us. While you were… unavailable Kikouka wanted someone who could tell him what happened at the end. Taking a page out of Argo's book I made a deal with him, special permission to keep my NerveGear and information on all our friends so I could get back in contact with them here."

She grins teasingly, "Argo must've been so proud."

He laughs, "When I called her the first time and told her she sniffed and told me that there was a tear in her eye. It was all very over the top and exaggerated."

She laughs, and there's a slight pause, "Then… Everyone's ok?"

He smiles reassuringly at her, "Yea, everyone's just fine. It was really just you and Asuna… Everyone missed you guys a lot." He chuckles lightly, "Since there doesn't seem like there will be enough time for everyone to visit you before your pulled out of the hospital, and since you'll only be allowed six visitors at a time, there's probably going to be fighting over who gets to visit you. God, I hope no one tries to tell Argo she can't be one of the ones to visit. With how close you two were in Aincrad, I wouldn't put it past her to try fist fighting anyone who tries to stop her from seeing you. With how she adores you, it's the same with Silica weirdly enough, you'd think from how sweet she'd been in the game that she isn't the slightest bit violent, but..."

She laughs at that, "Oh god, I just got the mental image of  _Agil_  being the one to try and tell Argo she can't come visit!"

Her mate breaks down in laughter, trying to talk past his laughing, "The- The worst part is- she- she wouldn't  _hesitate_  to- to fight him!"

Her laughter doubles, "Argo and Silica fighting over the last spot!"

Her mate laughs so hard at that he actually falls off the bed, which of course just makes them laugh harder. Of course, it  _is_  pretty late, around eleven thirty, so it's then that a nurse comes in with an apologetic smile, "Sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave now."

Kazuto sobers up pretty quickly at that, climbing to his feet and shoving his hands in his jacket pockets before giving her a reluctant look. She smiles lightly at him, "I'll be here tomorrow at least as it'll probably take a couple days for my parents to get this worked out…"

He sighs, "I know, I just…" Her smile turns to one of sad understanding and he sighs again, "I'll see you tomorrow then…"

He reluctantly heads to the door, giving her one last look before he leaves. As soon as he leaves the connection she'd established breaks and it takes everything in her not to cry. Even if she wasn't able to sense his emotions or anything of the sort with the incomplete bond, it was still  _there_.  _ **He**_  was still always there, taking up a portion of her mind. Without him, her mind felt achingly  _empty_  and painfully  _lonely_. Which was ironic, considering the change in her weapons made her mind fuller than ever.

* * *

January 23, 2025

Marzanna had a  _ **colossal**_  problem. Namely that it was going to be an absolute  **bitch**  to get caught up on all of her schooling seeing as she'd not only missed two years of it, but she had both non-magical  _and_  magical studies to catch up on. She'd already attended a school with a heavy combination of magical and non-magical curriculum, but it was even worse when she took into account that pursuing being a Crafter for spells, rituals, and wards had made for an even  _ **heavier**_  school schedule. Though that was almost entirely because of the required classes that she really wasn't all that interested in, barring potions and defense. She'd actually had such a heavy schedule that she'd had to make agreements with her teachers that she wouldn't get in trouble for not attending certain classes so long as she stayed on top of her homework and wasn't failing.

She'd always been miffed at how boring being ahead of everyone in her magical classes had made her, but it was finally proving to be a major boon and paying off. Despite having gotten trapped a full year before she should've sat them, with a bit of review she should be able to take all of her OWLs and at least  _pass_  all of her classes, then drop a little over half of her formerly heavy schedule. For a handful of them that she was very good at, namely Spell Creating, Magical Theory, Runes, and Arithmancy, she should be able to sit her NEWTS for, which would free up more time for the remaining three magical classes and catching up on her non-magical schooling.

So now here she was, not even a full twenty four hours after she'd woken up from more than two years in a coma and an hour after her parents had left, doing revision for the classes she's preparing to test for with charmed books so that no one without magic will know what they actually are.

She's busy brushing up on Charms when the door to her room is thrown open violently, not even a second later a small bundle all but throws itself on top of her with a shout, "Hanna-nee!"

She looks down at the younger girl in bemusement, "Well hello to you too Silica."

The younger girl beams up at her, "You're finally awake! I missed you  _so_ _ **much**_!"

She chuckles lightly, "Well I'm back now."

She nods happily, then suddenly seems to grow downcast, "But Kirito says you're going to be pulled out of the hospital in a couple days and then we won't get to see you for a while. Is that really true?"

She smiles sadly, "I'm afraid so. I…" She sighs, "It's difficult to explain, but I can't recover here like you guys did, I've gotta go home and then I won't be able to go anywhere for a while. It's not like you'll never see me again though, and my mom's going to get my phone hooked back up today or tomorrow, so we can always call each other, yea?"

Silica perks up a bit and nods, "Right!"

Before anything more can be said Lizbeth abruptly leans into her personal space, grabbing a lock of silver hair with a baffled expression, "... Where are your roots? I mean, you  _just_  woke up last night, but I don't see any roots at the top of the red, black,  _or_  even the freaking  _silver_. And there's no  _way_  you've already gotten to re-dye it."

Marzanna sighs, rather used to the attention her strange hair tends to garner, "You're looking at them, Lizbeth. That's just how my hair naturally is."

The other girl frowns, "No."

She tilts her head, "Yes."

Lizbeth huffs, "No. No, that's not how things  _work,_  Hanna. You can't have hair that's just straight up three different colors and you don't have  _silver_  hair at all! Gray if your old, sure, but  _ **silver**_? No."

She raises an eyebrow, then points at her hair, "Right in front of you Lizbeth."

Her friend narrows her eyes, "You had to have dyed it."

She sighs again, "I thought we already went over the whole, 'I've been in a coma and couldn't have dyed it yet' part. Besides, you do realize my twin's hair is exactly the same, barring length."

Lizbeth shakes her head, "Yea, but how else do you explain- Wait… Wait a freaking second! You have a  _ **twin**_?!"

Marzanna tilts her head in bemusement at her gaping friends, "Yes? Identical in fact. Well, barring the fact that my twin is a  _guy_  so he looks like a male version of me, but still nevertheless  _technically_  identical. And actually, my parents already visited today, but my brothers supposed to be by soon, so I can actually prove the hair thing."

Very soon, considering she'd been sensing him steadily getting closer and she'd gotten a spike of excitement only seconds before. If he was close enough for her to pick up on emotions without him actively projecting them, he had to be not only in the building already but within a few floors.

Lizbeth waves her hand, "Forget about the hair thing, how come I'm only just finding out you have a twin?! One that's probably  _cute_  as all hell if he looks like a male version of you!"

She shrugs lightly, "It's not like I was hiding it, I think it just never came up between us. I mean, Kazuto knew. You just never asked about siblings or family. As for him being 'cute'... Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but when my mom stopped by I got the minor update that he's totally got it bad for his best friend, so…."

Lizbeth slumps, "Why are the cute ones always taken? Or gay. And of  _course_  I never asked! You  _know_  it was considered rude to ask about that kind of stuff."

Marzanna shrugs, not really having a response to that. An idea strikes her a moment later, and she mentally reaches towards her twin in amusement, ' _Hey, you're almost here right?'_

There's a mental hum of agreement from her brother, ' _I'm only a few doors down from your room with Nero now. Why?'_

She barely holds back a grin as she answers, ' _Wanna mess with my friends a bit? Nothing big, just a tiny bit of amusement.'_

She feels a spark of interest from him, ' _... I'm listening, but be quick, we're waiting outside your door now.'_

She rapidly passes the idea off, and her brother agrees with a touch of amusement. It wasn't big in any sense of the word, it was just a little thing that would mess with her friend's heads, but it was bound to be at least mildly entertaining.

A few moments after finishing their mental conversation, Mike breaks into the idle chatter her friends had picked up while she'd been focusing on her brother and subsequently spacing off, "So, you finally decided to wake up I see." Looking up, she sees her brother leaning against the wall giving her an irritated look. He tilts his head, then saunters over to her bedside causing Silica to scramble off and over to Kirito nervously, "Finally decided you'd gotten enough beauty sleep? Not that it's helped any. In fact, you seem to have done the impossible and made it  _worse_."

She gives a sniff of disdain, "Still better looking than  _you_. Not that such a feat is particularly difficult to pull off. Besides, being simple physical atrophy,  _I_  can recover. Your distinct lack of functioning brain cells is sadly permanent, you imbecilic troglodyte."

They stare each other down with mild glares, laughing with each other over the bond at how utterly  _confused_  her friends look, but trying to keep it in. Mike breaks after only a minute, his glare fading into a wide smile as he picks her up in a hug, "Marzanna! You're awake! About damned time! Do you have  _any_  idea how much I've missed you, you silly girl?"

She laughs when we picks her up, and wraps her arms around his neck in a tight hug, "Probably as much as I've missed you, you stupid boy. Now put me down!"

He leans his head back enough to give her a mischievous grin before lightly tossing her back onto her bed. She reaches up to smack his arm with a laugh, "You're a total  _ass_ , you know that?"

He just chuckles and grins at her, not repentant in the slightest. He's lightly pushed out of the way by Nero a moment later, and his irritated look is simply met with an unabashed grin, then Nero turns to her with a warm smile, "I'm glad you're back 'Zanna. We all missed you a lot."

She smiles up at him, "I missed you guys too. How's everyone been doing?"

He shrugs casually, "Same old same old for the most part. There was a lot of simply… focusing on the job, letting it distract us and trying not to let your situation cause total breakdowns. Both mental and in our family's business."

She nods lightly, she'd known that had been how things had been during the two years in SAO, but she'd been too disconnected from reality to even  _notice_  if her brother had been in her mind in the past two and a half months. Noticing the curious looks her friends were giving her older brothers, even if one was only brother in heart, she shifts her gaze to them, "Oh, sorry, I'd assumed you'd guys had met before."

Kazuto shakes his head, "I've met them, but by the time everyone had recovered enough to start visiting, it had become obvious  _something_  was going on that was stopping you two from waking up, and none of the rest of our friends could bear to visit you and Asuna and see you guys in that state."

She nods in understanding, then gives introductions, though leaves Kazuto out since he already knows everyone, "This is Mike, my twin, and Nero, my cousin who's more of my big brother than anything." Then she shifts her gaze back to her family, "These are my friends Silica, Argo, and Lizbeth."

The girls get warm friendly smiles as they each give some sort of wordless greeting at their names, and soon idle chatter breaks out between everyone as they get to know each other a bit. Kazuto moves over to sit on the edge of her bed, reaching out to hold her hand as they both stay mostly silent, content to just listen to their friends and her family and bask in  _finally_  being with each other in the real world. There were still plenty of things she needed to do. She needed to recover, to finally tell Kazuto the whole truth about her, and she still needed to finish revising so she could take some of her OWLs and NEWTs and have a manageable schedule for when she goes back to school, but that could all wait a while. For the moment, she was entirely content to simply be with some of those she loves.

* * *

(1): You cannot tell me that one of the patients that was in a coma for  _two years_  just straight up getting out of bed and wandering off in search of his girlfriend wouldn't make the rounds amongst the nurses. They'd  _definitely_  be complaining or gossiping about it in the break rooms and shit.

Shuraba:

Osiris:


	36. Personalities and Bodies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I'm so sorry this took so long guys! It wasn't really my fault this time though. You guys know I'll straight up tell you if I struggle to find the motivation to write and I've even outright admitted to getting distracted with reading other fanfiction (the an in chapter six comes to mind), I'm not just a writer after all, I enjoy reading fanfics to. So you guys know I don't lie about why a chapter is late, but I tried this chapter. I wanted to write and I've been trying since I finished the prev previous chapter, and it just wasn't working. I managed to force the first four thousands words (and in my opinion the quality suffered at least a little because of that), before I just seemed to hit a brick wall. Merlenyn helped quite a bit (I'm sure I bugged her at least a little with my constant pestering and angry ranting about Muse Marzanna just being an uncooperative little shit), but it was just stuck. So, got fed up enough to quit for bit, returned to it yesterday after four days away and lo and behold, it got done by 4:30 in the morning today (I'm writing this about half an hour later and hopefully Merlenyn can do a quick beta of it so you can get it on schedule). Honestly guys, I'm thinking I was a bit burnt out and just needed a little break but didn't realize it. But anyway, it's done now, hopefully my break means I can just keep going and have the next out on time, but here's this at least.
> 
> Semi-important: So, as I explained above, I ran into some issues while writing this that weren't really under my control. I really wanted to be able to tell you guys that this wasn't one of those times I just didn't have the motivation, I was trying and would have it out as soon as possible, but unless I did an announcement chapter (which I didn't really want to do, as I didn't want everyone to think there was an actual chapter) I didn't really have a way of doing that. I thought of posting something on my author bio page, but I doubt many of you have ever even been to my bio, so that wasn't really helpful. Anyway, point is, I actually do have a Tumblr under my author name, I've actually had it for a while now but originally I didn't say anything because I was just going to reblog writing tips and post fic ideas/promts (still need to get around to that second part), but I'll probably start posting stuff about the fic over there. I would like to say that, yes, my profile already has links to my FF and Deviantart, but this isn't a 'hey guys! I have all the things! Follow, favorite, subscribe, do all of it!'. This is a 'hey, I've got this thing that I've had for a while that I'll post updates about the fic on so you can, for instance, pop over there and find out if it's just a tiny bit behind schedule or if I've barely gotten anything done, and you can also ask questions over there'. Technically you could do that last part through the comments system here, but its not possible to leave unanimous MESSAGES over on FF, which are much easier to respond to than unanimous reviews, so I thought it was worth mentioning that I've enabled anonymous asks anyway. And in the case of the other two? My Deviantart is basically just so you guys can see the character images I put together all in one place since ff doesn't really have any way to post images unless it's the profile or fic image, but that only leaves one per fic, and the character pictures here on AO3 are scattered and not all of them are on here (like the two of Mike). And I started on FF and was posting there originally, and honestly originally I just got my AO3 so I could favorite fics only on there, but then I realized some people prefer that site, so I figured what the hell, no reason NOT to cross-post. Anyway, point is, I'll probably start posting news about the fic over there, so if ever there's a delay or you just have a question, there's that. Again, it's under the same name, but just in case, it's vorpalquickblade.tumblr.com

January 25th, 2025

Closing the door to her room, she leans her forehead against the cool wood and lets out a sigh, then casts a silencing spell on the room. Since waking up the pushy nurses had left her with almost _no_ privacy, and since coming home an hour and a half previous she hadn't had even a minute to herself. She loved her family and had missed them _horribly_ even with the ability to talk to them through Mike, but she just needed a bit of time to herself, needed to be alone for just a few minutes.

Turning around, she froze, her breath quickening. Vibrant blue walls and bedding, silver accents, sharp designs. Designed to be modern, but so _horribly_ similar to the way mobs died, just like-

The 25th floor boss before she flipped out. The fight with Skull Reaper. Kirito almost dying to Kuradeel, to Heathcliff. The battle with Laughing Coffin, ' _No! Don't think about that! Anything but that!'_

Marzanna was crouching down, holding her head, and hyperventilating. Her eyes flickering over her room wildly, desperately trying to find something, anything to distract her from the images flickering rapidly through her mind. She didn't- she _**couldn't**_ \- Black. Out of the corner of her eye. Turning towards it sharply, she found herself looking at a wall mounted coat rack situated behind her door when it was open. There were three coats hanging from the hooks, the one farthest from her door was pitch black.

Immediately an image of Kirito smiling at her took the place of one of the nameless PKers that died by her blade. Grabbing onto the coat like a lifeline, Marzanna yanked it down desperately. She barely noticed that the coat ripped slightly, it didn't fit her anymore anyway- or that she also pulled the coat rack off the wall, she didn't fucking _**care**_.

Burying her face in the black material so she wouldn't have to see her room, she began forcing her breathing to calm down, _'Deep breaths Hanna, that's it just- No, that's not right, my name is_ _ **Marzanna**_ _. I'm sixteen years old. I'm the daughter of Dante and Lily Sparda, the granddaughter of Eva and Alessio. I'm a Demon Hunter, a Beater, and a level 104 front lin- No. My name is_ _ **Marzanna**_ _! I'm sixteen. I'm a Nephilim and a Demon Hunter. My mate's name is Kirito- Kirigaya Kazuto. I'm- I'm-'_ Marzanna froze as a horrifying realization hit her, _'I don't know who I am anymore…'_

That thought terrified her. She knew some people might think she was overreacting, but Marzanna had always had a strong idea of who she was. Sure, who she was had changed as time went by, but she'd always had a firm sense of self. Before James started being abusive towards her, she'd been Lily's daughter and Mike's twin. After James hit her that first time, she tried to tell Mike, but he hadn't believed her. He didn't think James was capable of wrongdoing, and a gap formed between her and Mike. So she'd just been Lily's daughter, Marzanna Evans. She'd never thought of herself as a Potter. Even before James started hurting her she'd hated him, and the feeling had been mutual, but after he started she'd begun consciously thinking of herself as an Evans. When she'd started getting close to her dad and the rest of her family, she started to tentatively think of herself as Marzanna Sparda, Lily and Dante's daughter. As Nero's little sister, Vergil's niece, and Sparda and Eva's granddaughter. Kat, Lady, Trish, and Kyrie's pseudo niece. Then she'd striped herself of Marzanna's skin and donned Hanna's. No longer was she a Nephilim and a Demon Hunter, now she was a Beater and a front liner. Later she added onto Hanna's identity, when she became Kirito's wife.

Now... Now she just didn't know anymore. She couldn't just **stop** being Hanna, she didn't even remember how. She wasn't even sure she _wanted_ to stop being Hanna. Hanna was Silica's older sister, and best friends with Argo and Diabel, Hanna was friends with Klein and Agil, Asuna and Lizbeth. Hanna was Yui's mother, was Kirito's wife and partner. That girl named Hanna had become _ingrained_ into who she was. Even if Marzanna didn't know precisely who that was, she knew that much at least. On the other hand, she couldn't just not be Marzanna either, or rather she didn't want to. Being Marzanna meant being a Nephilim, it was her _**heritage**_ , her _**family**_. She loved her family, and they'd always be her family, so it wasn't like she was going to cut them out of her life either. Finally, the last major piece of Marzanna's identity, she was a Demon Hunter. She chose to be one, and though her job was difficult and gruesome more often than not, she liked it. She kept people safe, people who couldn't fight for themselves, she was proud of her job. Though her memories of how to be Marzanna were a little faded, she wanted to fit back into the life Marzanna had, but she didn't want to lose the life Hanna made for herself.

Pulling her face out of the coat, the images immediately came rushing back. Marzanna flinched then scowled, _'Yea well, right now you're not being Marzanna Sparda_ _ **or**_ _She-Devil Hanna. While_ _ **everyone**_ _has their weak moments, neither of_ _ **them**_ _would be so weak as to break down in a panic attack as such a tiny thing as a rooms design! Pull yourself together woman!'_

Somehow, that is enough to let her push herself up to stand on onto slightly shaking legs, to let her stumble over to grab her wallet from where she'd left it a lifetime ago on her bedside table before leaving her room. Leaning against the door she lets out a slow breath, forcing herself to calm down fully. All the way back before SAO became a death game, she'd taken jobs to save up for her SAO subscription and the NerveGear, but that didn't mean she'd spent _all_ of her money on it. If she remembered correctly, she'd still had _some_ money left over afterwards. Checking her wallet, she's a bit surprised to find a little over three hundred in there, it was more than she'd thought she'd had, but then again, it had been a long time since she'd spared a thought to it. It was enough at least, to buy some god damned paint to fix her room and maybe some other stuff. Her mom had bought her a couple loose T-Shirts and sweatpants to wear until they could actually go replace her clothes, which would no longer quite fit her, so she didn't have to worry about that, but she might need a couple other things. She didn't really know just yet.

After two years of simply relying on herself and Kazuto to do everything and walking everywhere, it doesn't even occur to her to ask her family for help on such a minor thing, or even for a ride. She leaves without a word through the door to New York, and she leaves so quickly she misses the confused and slightly worried looks her family shares with one another.

* * *

She jolts awake with a gasp, then looks around frantically, confused at the unfamiliar place she woke up. At her feet Aite lifts her head to look at her in questioning worry, and from the stand near the side of her bed Hedwig doors the same. Seeing her familiars makes her remember that she's **home** , that she'd repainted her room a dark red color that had felt soothing after seeing the bright blue of player death in her _house_. She'd even come across a pitch black bed set that she'd bought. It had caught her eye as she wandered the store and reminded her of her mate so she hadn't hesitated to purchase it. It had been more helpful than she'd thought it'd be. Falling asleep without her mate anywhere near her had been harder than she'd anticipated, and though it certainly couldn't replace her mate, curling into the the black black body pillow and pressing her face against it while curled up under the equally dark comforter and desperately trying to pretend it was her mate's chest she was pressing her face to like she had many nights in Aincrad had made her feel silly, but it had been surprisingly helpful.

Rubbing at her face tiredly, she tries to forcibly dispel the images of the dying Laughing Coffin members, which had now been joined by nightmares of her family no longer recognizing her, of no longer wanting anything to do with her after she'd gone _directly_ against their beliefs and _**killed**_ people. Glancing at her clock, she groans in frustration. Having been doing it entirely herself and by hand, it had taken her a bit too shuffle her furniture around and paint her whole room, and would've taken even _longer_ without dying charms, but even then she hadn't gotten done until it was almost one in the morning. It was now around two forty five. She'd slept for a whopping hour and a half before getting woken up by nightmares.

Sliding out of bed, she snags her only other purchase from the store, a pure black jacket, and slips it on. Opening the door, she's about to head out when Hedwig swooping by to momentarily land on a table in the hallway makes her realize her familiars are following. She already feels guilty for waking them, as they'd had as little sleep as she had, and she doesn't see any need to keep them up, so she quickly reassures them, "You two don't have to come with me. You can go back to bed if you'd like."

She doesn't really get a response from her familiars, but she figures Aite slipping past her into the hallway, Hedwig gliding down to land on Aite's back, and the two of them turning to look at her in a questioning manner was answer enough.

She smiles lightly at them and casts a warming charm on Aite's snake tail, then makes her way up to the roof, leaving out the door to Japan this time. Hedwig takes off to fly in lazy circles around them, leaving Aite to trail behind Marzanna on the ground.

It was snowing again, and it soothed her in much the same way her jacket did, reminding her of her mate and the better times they'd had in Aincrad. She leans against the railing and Aite curls up at her feet while Hedwig settles down on the railing next to her. She simply stays there watching the snow fall and allowing it to immerse her in memories of her mate.

She quickly loses track of time, and has no idea how long she's been up there before the keen awareness that had been drilled into her kicks in and she realizes someone is approaching her, but at the same time she notices that it's Uncle Vergil and ignores it, choosing to keep her gaze on the falling snow.

He leans on the railing on her other side, simply watching the snow in silence with her for a few minutes before casually breaking the comfortable quiet, "I thought you didn't have a preference when it came to the weather?"

She hums lightly, "I don't. Kazuto can't stand the heat though, and he loves this sort of weather. Enough so that when we finally got around to getting a house instead of constantly staying at inns we picked one that was in a _taiga_."

Her uncle snorts lightly, "I see… What are you even doing up this late? You should be in bed. The training to get you back into shape is going to start tomorrow, and you don't want to be tired for it, especially since no one is going to go easy on you."

She sighs, "I know… Just couldn't sleep. It's really not that uncommon for me anymore..."

Out of the corner of her eye she sees her uncle turn his head to look at her, "Oh? You've never really had problems sleeping. Although, I suppose I haven't _really_ known you and your habits in two years… Still, insomnia doesn't just tend to come out of nowhere…"

She lets out a shaky breath. She supposes that if _anyone_ in her family would understand, it would be Uncle Vergil. It hits her a moment later that her uncle had always had trouble sleeping as long as she knew him, and wonders if it was because of similar problems.

Turning her head slightly to look at her uncle, she decides to simply ask, "Uncle Vergil? Does it keep you up at night? What you did after… after you went crazy?"

He responds without hesitation, "Almost every night." He suddenly turns his head to look at her again, a speculative look in his eye, "I hurt and killed so _many_ back then… Guilt is a powerful thing, Marzanna. It can tear even the strongest person apart… You may not physically be a child anymore, but when you take experience and the long lives of Nephilim into account, you're still just a kid, and guilt can crush even an adult like me or you're grandfather..."

He doesn't push, but she knows he wouldn't have left such a rather large opening to explain if he didn't want to know, he was silently asking without demanding, while still leaving her the option to ignore the unspoken question. She contemplates it briefly, before coming to a slightly reluctant decision as Virgil _would_ be the one most likely to understand out of her family, "... I killed six people in Aincrad… I suppose you could also say that I assisted in killing Kayaba and _**Kuradeel**_ as well…"

She all but spits the last name, hating that man even more than Kayaba, and it obviously doesn't go unnoticed by her uncle, but he doesn't sound the slightest bit judgemental when he speaks, "Kayaba, I can understand, but what's the deal with this Kuradeel person?"

She growls, "My friend, Asuna, was in a high position in the guild when they decided people in power in the guild needed guards. _He_ was assigned to her, despite the fact she was one of the strongest players in the game. He turned out to be a total creep, stalking her and watching her home, so I humiliated him in a duel to make him go away. He later caught Kirito and I unaware and managed to nail us with knives coated in paralysis potion. He was going to _**murder**_ Kirito, my _**mate**_ , in front of me, just for some sort of twisted payback. I managed to call Shuraba's mental form to me, so I threw it at him. The pain distracted him long enough for Kirito to use an Antidote Crystal and deal with him… I can't bring myself to feel even the slightest shred of guilt for either his death, nor the first life I took…"

Her uncle tilts his head, "I'm assuming the first life was that of someone who _also_ tried to kill your mate?" She nods slightly, and he sighs, "Marzanna, that's sadly just part of having a soulmate. You'll do _**anything**_ to keep them safe, and it won't ever bother you."

She looks away, "I know…"

He sighs again, "Kayaba is rather self-explanatory when taking into account the fact you apparently had to beat him to escape, so what about the other five?"

She can't stop herself from tensing up at that, "... Laughing Coffin… I wish I could say otherwise, but the sad truth of the matter is that there _were_ players who killed other people in that game. With most of them, it was denial or they just straight up didn't _believe_ Kayaba, but then you had Laughing Coffin… They were notorious for not only being the largest murder guild, but also for the fact they _knew_ if you killed someone there that they'd really die, and _**enjoyed**_ that fact. They took _**pleasure**_ in knowing they were taking lives and _**getting away with it**_. There _was_ an inescapable prison in Aincrad, but there wasn't any sort of law enforcement… It was up to the players. Kirito and I, along with some of our friends, had been pushing for them to do something, but the front liners were more focused on clearing the game. Eventually though, it got so bad that the front liners were _forced_ to act. We learned where they'd made base, and the plan was simply to ambush them with superior numbers and _force_ them to surrender. It… didn't go as planned. First, _someone_ , we never learned who, leaked the information about the attack to them, and _they_ ended up ambushing _us_ , but then, when we'd finally regrouped… We found out the hard way that some of them… had absolutely _**no**_ intention of being taken _**alive**_... People started freezing up, unable to take that last bit of health from those crazy psychos, even though they _**knew**_ they were murderers… In the end, we ended up losing ten people to them, and twenty five Laughing Coffin members had chosen to die rather than surrender. Five of them died by my hand… and three fell to Kirito's sword…."

Her uncle gains a speculative look, "And now you are having nightmares about it." It isn't a question, but after a moment's hesitation, she nods in agreement. He turns his gaze to the falling snow in thought, "... Lives should never be taken easily, and taking them should never be treated with a light attitude…. but you DID the right thing. As one of the strongest players in that lawless environment, it was _your_ duty to protect the weak, and that's precisely what you did. Even law enforcement in the real world is sometimes forced to take lives."

She looks away, "I know that!" There's a brief pause before she sighs, "... So why is it so hard to accept that I only did what was _right_."

Her uncle sighs as well, "Because you were raised to believe there were _very_ few, if _any_ circumstances in which taking a life was ok. It made sense in the context of the real world, with our physical abilities and our Styles, I can't even think of a situation off the top of my head where it would be the only solution, but that didn't hold true in SAO. You didn't _have_ those resources, and thus it _became_ the only viable option when they refused to surrender. You're also a good person Marzanna, the fact that this is bothering you so much is proof of that at least. Honestly, I _know_ it's not what you're wanting to hear, but I would be more concerned if it _wasn't_ getting to you."

She absently reaches out to pet Hedwig, who seems more than content to give her that comfort, "... Kazuto isn't having problems with it, but that's because he's pushing it away _entirely_ and refusing to deal with it in the slightest, which is only going to make it so much worse when he can't ignore it any longer…"

Her uncle purses his lips, "That's terrible, and I'm sure the prospect of your mate being in such distress over the same issue is making things worse, _you_ are changing the subject."

She huffs, "I am _not_. I-"

She's cut off before she can get any further, "They're not going to hate you Marzanna. You're _family_. They understood and forgave _**me**_ , what makes you think they won't give you the same courtesy when you _actually_ had a good reason for doing what you did?"

She explodes at that, "Because you'd _lost your mind_! _You_ had little to _no_ control over yourself! I knew _exactly_ what I was doing, and _I_ made the choice to do it of my own volition!"

Vergil takes her anger calmly, leaving a brief pause before responding, "Are you done?" She just glares lightly at him, trying to catch her breath after her outburst, "Good. Yes, it's true _you_ made that choice with a sane mind, but as I said earlier, you _didn't_ have your power as a Nephilim. You did what you _had_ to, to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Was it an easy choice? Clearly not. Was it the _right_ one? _**Yes**_. _Someone_ had to make the decision, and you said _yourself_ that not all those in your group were capable of doing it, they _died_ because they couldn't do what was _necessary_ to protect _themselves_ , much less protect the weak. Which left the decision to you…. It's not an easy burden to bare, but that burden is the cost of doing what was right to protect, not just those who can't protect themselves, but those amongst the group that couldn't make that choice, no matter _how_ necessary it became." There's a brief pause before her uncle sighs, "Marzanna…. It's your burden to bear, but you shouldn't let it hold you back. You have to move on, sooner or later." She doesn't say anything, and he sighs again, "Your training can be put off for a day, I think there's some dreamless sleep potion in the bathroom, and I'll talk to your mom about stocking up on it tomorrow…"

She nods slowly, and without a word, she and her familiars head back inside, leaving her uncle on the roof, watching the snow in contemplation. She's sure that by the time she wakes up tomorrow, her family will know what she's done, and that _**terrifies**_ her… But it's bound to happen sooner or later, and at least if Vergil tells them _she_ won't have to, and she'll be able to stop worrying about how they'll react. Of course, she'll also have to _deal_ with their reactions, one way or another, but… Well, she'd cross that bridge tomorrow.

* * *

January 26, 2025

When she next wakes up, she simply lays in bed for a while, reluctant to face the consequences of her actions. Rolling onto her back, she glances at her clock and is slightly surprised to see that it is already past four in the afternoon. She'd _like_ to just stay in bed and not have to face her family, but the problem with that is that she's _really_ hungry.

With a sigh, she pulls the covers off and slips out of bed. Aite stretches leisurely, then hops off her bed to follow, and Hedwig quickly lands on the Nandu's back. She sighs again as she looks at her familiars, "Time to face the music…"

Aite rubs her face into her leg comfortingly, even as Shuraba speaks up, _'I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think it will, Mistress. Your uncle had some very good points last night.'_

She shrugs, sending back, _'I suppose we'll see how things are going to go soon enough…'_

Slowly making her way downstairs, she's slightly glad not to run into anyone, but she hesitates outside of the kitchen upon hearing someone moving around. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she opens the door and quickly slips in. Only her mom is inside, which she's grateful for, but it _does_ mean it's one of her _parents_ she'll have to face first.

At hearing the door open and close, her mother looks up from what she'd been doing, giving her a sad smile, "Hey sweetheart, finally decided to get up?"

She shrugs lightly before mumbling out, "Only woke up a bit ago, and I'm hungry…"

Her mom nods in understanding, then points at the table, "Just take a seat, I'll make you something."

An awkward silence descends over the kitchen as she hesitantly sits down and her mother begins quickly making her food. When it's done, her mother sits down across from her with a cup of tea after setting the plate in front of her, and the awkward quiet continues until her mom sighs tiredly, "Sweetheart… You don't honestly believe we'd be angry at you for doing what you _had_ to, do you?" She's entirely unsure how to respond to that, and she can't even bring herself to meet her mom's gaze anyway, but that's apparently enough of an answer in and of itself, as her mom sighs again, "Marzanna… We _aren't_. We really _do_ understand that you only did what you had to. The only anger _anyone_ , including you father who I'm sure is the one you've been most worried about, has over this is at the fact you were pushed into a situation that required you to do that in the first place, not at you for actually doing it."

She purses her lips, "I _**killed**_ people, how can you _**possibly**_ be ok with that?!"

Her mom sighs lightly, "Sweetheart… What you need to realize, is that despite our stance on how we _shouldn't_ abuse our power and hurt, much less _kill_ humans, more than _half_ of our family has found themselves in a position where they were forced to take someone's life. As you grandmother said before she left, even _**angels**_ sometimes have to kill humans. Admittedly it's rare, and it's usually people who have made deals with demons, often selling their souls, but even your grandmother and the other angels have taken human lives."

Marzanna's gaze drops to her food, and for a minute she simply pushes it around the plate, unsure how to respond. Finally, she simply lets the topic go and asks what's been bugging her almost the entire time since she woke up, "... Where is anyone anyway? I can't hear anyone else in the house at _all_."

Her mom purses her lips, not quite happy at the shift of topic, but answers nonetheless, "It's just you and me. We didn't want you to feel like you were under attack and overwhelmed, so it was decided that everyone else would simply… make themselves scarce. Though there _was_ a considerable amount of… debate… over who would stay to talk to you."

Marzanna can't help but snort at that. It may prevent her from feeling _'overwhelmed'_ , but the fact of the matter was that she'd stress over exactly how the various members of her family would take it until she saw for herself, _**especially**_ when it came to her dad. So, for all that it alleviated one problem, it only fanned the flames of a another. She stabs her food with her fork in annoyance, though mostly towards herself, "And they picked _**you**_?"

She winces almost immediately, it had come out far harsher than she'd intended, and she was _already_ in a rather precarious position with her family. Her mother simply sighs though, "Yes. Me…. I've never told you this, but I did end up taking the lives of some Death Eaters while working in the Order…" Marzanna lifts her head to stare at her mother in slight disbelief. She'd **definitely** never heard about that. Her mom gives her a slightly bitter smile at that, "I suppose it's only natural though. What parent _wouldn't_ try and protect their child from a war that ended before they were old enough to _really_ understand… It doesn't change what happened though, nor does it change the weight of the lives I took. The thing is though Sweetheart, in cases like ours, you also need to take into account the numerous lives you _saved_ by taking those handful of others. I know it can be hard sometimes, it can be extremely difficult to look past the _immediately_ effects of your actions, of the fact you snuffed out those lives, no matter your reasoning, but you _**must**_. You _**have**_ to look at the bigger picture, otherwise… Otherwise it's likely to drive you insane. I can't force you to see the wider reaching consequences, nor can I force you to take into consideration that you _saved_ lives even as you took others, but I _refuse_ to let you believe that we think any less of you."

Marzanna looks down, "How can you not though? The people I killed… they weren't _Death Eaters_ mom. There probably wasn't even a single magical amongst them… They were just regular magicless humans, not- not those _monsters_."

Her mother raises an eyebrow at her, "Psychopaths that take immense joy in killing and tormenting others for little to no reason… No, they sound _exactly_ like the Death Eaters, enough so that it's impossible to tell which I was talking about. No, they didn't have magic, but neither did you really, while you were in that world. If anything, I actually want to say they're _**worse**_ than Death Eaters in a way. At least **they** had a reason for their actions, as wrong and messed up as that reason was. From my understanding, the members of this _'Laughing Coffin'_ killed purely for the thrill of it. I know it's hard sweetheart, but you've gotta let it _go_ and forgive yourself."

Marzanna scowls into her food, "How could I possibly just let go of it, like it's inconsequential that I _killed_ _five people_ , snuffed out their lives like- like it meant _nothing_! Like they didn't _**matter**_! I can't even tell you there _**screen names**_ , much less anything about them! They were _people_ with lives and probably family and friends and I just _**ended it all for them**_! I can't just _ **forget**_! Are you honestly telling me that's what you did? You killed those people in the war then just- just forgot?!"

Her mother shakes her head, completely calm in the face of her turbulent emotions, "Nor should you, but you shouldn't allow it to _destroy_ you, like it is now. It's one thing to acknowledge the weight of the actions you took out of necessity, and another entirely to let it control you."

Marzanna looks away and there's a beat of silence before her mother sighs, "As for the people I killed… Most of them were simply in the heat of battle. You can't _always_ stay nonlethal in a fight like that, and even if you _do_ , that doesn't guarantee your opponent won't die. They could get hit by a stay killing curse while unconscious and/or bound for example. I don't really remember those ones all that well, I fought quite a few Death Eaters back then, and I honestly couldn't tell you exactly which ones survived and which didn't. The only people I _really,_ _ **truly**_ remember killing… It was not long after the yearly Hogwarts letters had been sent out, and despite the perilous circumstances, Diagon Alley was exceedingly busy with families getting everything their children would need for school. I suppose they were simply unable to resist such a large target, but not many in the Order, or even amongst the Aurors, were surprised when the Death Eaters attacked. Not long after the Order showed up, I came across a group of Death Eaters surrounding a few families they'd rounded up. It was clear they were muggles and muggleborn and that the kids were first years brand new to the magical world, it was also equally obvious that the Death Eaters had been torturing and killing the children's parents in front of them. Only one of the parents was still alive by the time I got there...

Her mother sighs again, her gaze dropping to the table, her eyes narrowing as she purses her lips while her hands tighten on her cup and her shoulders hunched inwards. All in all, her mother looks like a person who's got the weight of the world on their shoulders, "... Killing those people…. it _did_ haunt me for quite a while, it _**still**_ gives me nightmares every now and then, but… if I hadn't done what I had, those kids would've died." She lifts her gaze and relaxes some, but not entirely, "As I said, it wasn't the only time the war forced me to kill either, and for all the Order believes in trying to capture the Death Eaters, in battle it isn't always possible to take your enemy alive. Furthermore, the war is restarting, and Mike will be dragged right into the center of it. Above all else, the belief our family holds onto, is that you always have your family's backs. You always support one another. This takes precedence above any of our other ideals. We will support your brother, _even if that means fighting in a war_. A war that has _**nothing**_ to do with us, that might, and very well _**could**_ , force us to go against our other beliefs and take the lives of humans. I won't tell you, _'this doesn't change anything'_ , because that's a lie. Having to kill someone… it almost always changes a person. If anything, I'd be more concerned if it _**didn't**_ change or affect you, because generally speaking, that only happens if you took that life in defence of your mate… or if you're a _psychopath_. That doesn't mean you should let it devour you though, you're still _**you**_ in the end. Changed perhaps, but still you."

Marzanna pushes her food around a bit, before quietly saying, "... But I don't even know _who I am_ anymore…" Lifting her head, she sees her mother's eyes go wide, and she smiles bitterly, before dropping her gaze again, "Because you see, _Marzanna_ has her family- her parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, her heritage and her pride in her job as a Demon Hunter- a protector of those unable to protect themselves, but _Hanna_ … _**Hanna**_ has her friends- Argo, Diabel, Asuna, Lizbeth, Klein, Agil, a makeshift family- a sister in Silica, a husband in Kirito, and even an adoptive daughter in Yui, she has her pride as a Front Liner- someone who fights for those unable to fight for themselves. They're rather _similar_ , but they… they aren't the _**same**_ , and I don't know how to be both. I don't… I don't _quite_ remember how to be Marzanna and I don't want to lose what she had, but I can't _**not**_ be Hanna, she also possess to many bonds important to my heart to let go. It's- It's like Marzanna left this hole in the world that Hanna just doesn't know how to fill anymore, but that everyone expects me to just slip back into no problem like I wouldn't have changed _at all_ , and I just- I _can't_ "

She squeezes her eyes shut, digging her teeth into her bottom lip as she tries to stave off the panic that's beginning to bubble up again. After a moment warmth engulfs her as her mom wraps her arms around her and begins running her fingers through her hair soothingly, "Oh, sweetheart. That's not it, that's not it at all! We all _knew_ you'd probably at be at least a _little_ different, how could you _**not**_? It's just that no one's exactly sure how to treat you and how to go about finding those differences without making you feel like a stranger. It's just that no one knows how to get to know who you've _become_ since then, so they're trying to feel it out by treating you the same. It's _**ok**_ if you don't quite know yourself just now, sweetheart. The thing is, discovering who you are is _already_ part of being a teenager and I'm sure it's only made worse by the circumstances, so I promise you, it's ok, you'll figure things out in time. You'll figure out exactly _who_ Marzanna _and_ Hanna _**are**_ and how to be both, it'll just take some _time_. We'll be right here with you, every step of the way, or if you need some space, we'll give you that. We don't want anything but for you to really _truly_ come home to us, and to help you move past that which haunts you. On that note, the government has set up special counseling facilities. It's not mandatory, but if you want, I know they made sure at least some of them know about magic so those with it that got stuck in the game can speak freely..."

She lets out a shuddering, "I... I don't know. Maybe. It might help, I honestly…"

Her mom pulls away to give her a watery smile, "Well, you need to get back into shape first anyway, so why don't you spend this time thinking about it. Of course, you could always just try it for a couple of sessions, and if you don't think it's helping you don't have to keep going. Who knows though, maybe talking to someone who knows neither Marzanna _or_ Hanna will help."

She nods slowly, then weakly cracks an admittedly bad joke, "If all else fails, I could always change my name to Marzanna Hanna Sparda."

Her mother snorts, "That's a terrible name."

She grins lightly, "Maybe, but it's no worse than Marzanna _Rosemarie_ Sparda. Seriously woman, what were you _thinking_? I mean, I know it wasn't _Sparda_ at the time, but Marzanna Rosemarie Potter and Marzanna Rosemarie Evans are just as bad. Marzanna and Rosemarie just _don't work together_. Honestly, my brother gets the rather normal Mike Dezi Sparda, but I get freaking Marzanna Rosemarie Sparda? What were you _**on**_?!"

Her mom laughs lightly, "Lots of pain relieving potions… and some amortentia, which probably didn't help."

She tilts her head, then shrugs, "Fair enough."

Her mother chuckles, then gives her a Look, "So… What was that about having an adoptive daughter?"

She winces, "Ah… Well, to summarize, Kirito and I came across a little girl who seemed like she couldn't have been older than nine near our home. She was _way_ underdressed for the weather, and under equipped for a non-safe zone on that level of floor, and she passed out for seemingly no reason. When she woke up, she had amnesia, only being able to tell us her name was Yui, and seemed to have mentally regressed to that of a toddler or just a bit older, judging by her speech capacity. We quickly grew ridiculously attached to her considering how short the time she was with us was, and despite immediately being to search for a parent or guardian of some sort, as we were sure someone of her age wouldn't have been allowed to play SAO on her own, and despite knowing that once we _found_ said parent or guardian we'd have to give her back. While we were in the Town of Beginnings looking for someone who knew her, we ended up coming across a church that a woman had gathered the child players in so as to take care of them, helped her save a few of the kids from _**absolute**_ _**scumbags**_ who were trying to extort them, then staying the night with them when Yui seemed to have some sort of attack and passed out. The next day we were approached by someone who'd heard high level players were in town. It turned out that the group that had been extorting the kids was from a rival faction in her guild and that the faction's leader, that asshole Kibaou in case you remember him from the disaster on the 25th floor, had tricked the actual guild leader and the leader of _her_ faction, Thinker, into the depths of a high level dungeon without weapons or Crystals to escape with. Don't misunderstand, that's not a sign of intelligence on Kibaou's part, but a sign of sheer gullible naive _idiocy_ on Thinker's behalf, which is ironic considering his name, but whatever. Anyway, we went to help her save Thinker and ended up taking Yui because she adamantly refused to stay behind. Right outside the safe zone Thinker had taken refuge in was a boss. Kirito and I attempted to take it on and we're doing a decent job, we'd been in tougher spots, at least in my opinion. Then right after we'd both been nailed by a nasty hit, Yui came trotting out of the safe zone and destroyed the boss in one move."

She sighs before continuing, "Come to find out she's an AI that gained true sentience, which basically means she's _really_ alive rather than just good at faking it, and she'd just simply deleted the boss. Apparently, she'd been designed as a mental health counseling program that was just codenamed Yui, but on the day the game launched, Kayaba banned her from interacting with the players. With the confliction of what she was literally _designed to do_ and her orders to _not do it_ along with literally being _forced_ to watch hundreds take there own lives _by_ her very own programming that required her to at least _monitor_ the players all tearing her apart, she slowly began to build up errors and glitches, eventually breaking down into what Kirito and I met. She'd had an interest in us, as two of the only players that were constantly happy, and had been watching us closely along with appearing near our house so as to watch us from a distance in person, which is why she was near our house. There was some sort of console in the room that was meant to be used as emergency in game access for the GMs, she'd bumped it, and Cardinal recognized her, _finally_ noticed her glitches and errors, and fixed her with the automatic error correction system, which repaired her damaged memory data and language program amongst everything else. She explained everything to us, and after a bit of talking we convinced her that it didn't matter to us, she was our _daughter_ and we loved her, AI program or not."

She slumps tiredly, even _thinking_ about the next part still gets to her, "Then she dropped the bombshell on us. Apparently, since she used the console to delete the boss, the Cardinal system was running a check on her, would undoubtedly realize she had been going directly against orders, and delete her as a rogue program. She… She started disappearing _right in front of me_ , from right in my _arms_ just… disintegrating into little lights and fading away… I… I don't know what I would've _done_ if Kirito hadn't whipped out the fact he's apparently a fucking _god_ at hacking and managed to pull off some sort of techno wizardry on the console to isolate her program, save it as an in-game object, _and_ implant some sort of command to download her data to his NerveGear in a matter of _literally_ less than thirty seconds before the console blasted him away rather violently."

Her mom gains a contemplative look, "That last day, when most of the players woke up, he came stumbling in clutching his NerveGear like it was one of the most important things in his world. He actually told Kikouka that he 'wouldn't be able to pry it from his cold dead fingers', if I remember correctly. I always did wonder…"

She smiles lightly, "That sounds about right. Yui actually helped him save everyone from Alfheim too."

Her mom smiles lightly, then tilts her head, "Soooo… Does that mean I'm a grandma? I'm pretty sure that means I'm a grandma."

She tenses slightly, giving her mother a wary look, "... You're not going to start going on about how 'I'm too young to have a child' or anything like that, are you?"

Her mother plants her fists on her hips, "Marzanna Sparda! Do I _look_ like your father to you?!"

Her lips twitch, "No. Of course not. You're way too short."

Her mother snorts, "Amongst other things. Anyway, I'm far more concerned with how I'm supposed to dote on a granddaughter I've only _just_ heard of and have practically no way of interacting with! How am I supposed to spend time with her, to talk to her, to shower her with love, not to mention she doesn't have a physical body, so how am I supposed to give her presents?!"

Now it's her turn to snort, "Considering how excited Kazuto told me she was when she found out she had an aunt in his sister, I'm pretty sure she'd just be happy to know you accept her and that she can call you grandma."

Her mom rolls her eyes, "That's a given. You're father might throw a fit at the idea of you _having_ a child, but even he won't deny she's _family_. Which puts us back to square one. How on earth is this supposed to work _outside_ of virtual reality?"

She smiles lightly, "I wouldn't be surprised if that mad genius of mine is already working on some way for her to at least communicate with the outside world, if not outside already drawing up robotics designs, I'll be helping as soon as I can of course, though I'm not sure how yet, since I don't know much about that sort of stuff, my knowledge certainly isn't to the level we'll need for a project like this. And unless _you've_ told him, that's _without_ him knowing about Technomancy and the fact it can likely make all that a hell of a lot easier for us if he takes the time to learn it."

Her mom nods sharply, "You better get on that then, we'll help in anyway in we can if you guys need it."

She nods, "Thanks, but it actually shouldn't be that difficult, assuming we can figure out the Technomancy parts. Rather than building a _robotic_ body, it'll probably be easier, and _better_ considering current technology, to build her a magical body. A homunculus of some sort perhaps, or maybe a golem? I don't know yet, I was planning on beginning to look into it over the next few days. And of course, we'll need some sort of way for her technology based mind to interact with the magic based body, which is where the Technomancy will come in. She'll also probably need some sort of way to hop between VR games and her body seeing as she seemed to enjoy playing with us and I doubt she'll want to _completely_ leave that world behind. I don't know much about that sort of thing, but while I'm sure just downloading her would work if she was coming to this world _permanently_ , I'd doubt it'd be a good option to have to constantly download and re-upload her between VR and reality, and I'm not sure I could make a body that would be recognized by a VR headset… I'll need to get some more books on Technomancy as well, preferably two copies each of whatever new books I get along with additional copies of whatever I already have so I can give a set to Kazuto so he can start studying while I'm working on recovering and can do so when we aren't together even afterwards. Though he'll also need books to give him the groundwork in magical theory that he'll need to understand it. Though on second thought, I should get him copies of some of the books I have on the subject as groundwork for when he starts to learn magic anyway, seeing as I'll need my copies to start looking into the problem of Yui's actual body… Although, while I could technically do all the actual casting, a lot of this is riding on Kazuto being able to accept a half demon that has _killed_ people as his mate…"

Her mother looks like she wants to say something more on the whole killing people subject, but she's also got a contemplative look in her eye, and after a moment she drops it, "Well, at least you've got some idea where to start. If you give me a list of books you already have, I can get Kazuto copies while I'm picking up the new material for you both."

She nods, and quickly hands her mom her long empty plate, "I'll go get that for you now, but I only have the textbooks from my Technomancy class, so you'll have to look for other books going from beginners and we'll probably end up needing up to mastery level. And don't forget, any copies you get for Kazuto have to be in Japanese, and they _need_ charmed covers since he's from a magically unaware family. You _can't_ forget those things. You know what, I'll just write it as a note at the top of the list."

Her mom raises an eyebrow, "I do have a rather good memory, you know that right?"

She nods, "I know, but it's simply too important to risk you forgetting."

Her mom let's out an exaggerated sigh as she hurries out of the kitchen to write the list, and she smiles. This was good. Having something to focus on was excellent. It left her with something _more_ to do than just wallow in guilt and confusion.

Heading up to her room, she grabs a notebook and a pen before pausing. She should probably make sure Kazuto was on board for this course of action before committing them _both_ to it. Grabbing her phone, she quickly navigates to her contacts and goes to one of the many she'd added the day before she was released. It's answered almost immediately, "Hey Marzanna."

She can't help but smile at her mate's warm voice, "Hey. Listen, I was talking to my mom and kinda sorta… mentioned that we had an adopted daughter in Yui."

She can all but _feel_ her mate wince, "Not good. She didn't take it well I assume? I mean, we _are_ just teenagers, and Yui is… unique."

She huffs a laugh, "If by 'didn't take it well' you mean she immediately started freaking out about how she was supposed to spoil her granddaughter rotten when said granddaughter doesn't have a physical body, then no, she took it _horribly_."

There's a brief pause before her mate starts laughing, "I guess I should've known better. You family is… well, let's just say they're _strange_."

Her smile widens, "You can say that again. Though I wouldn't have it any other way."

His tone becomes fondly amused, "I'm sure you wouldn't. They wouldn't be able to handle your particular brand of insanity very well otherwise."

She rolls her eyes, "You're just as bad as I am, and I'll have you know I'm considered quite sane by my family's standards. _Anyway_ , we're getting off topic, my mother sort of has a point. I figure you've already got at least a few ideas for how to at least _talk_ to Yui in the real world, right?"

Her mate hums, "I actually already made a way for Yui to talk to me through my computer with a bit of help from her, and the two of us are already working on a program that'll let us talk to her on our phones, but it'll _only_ let us talk to her. It won't really let her experience or interact with the real world." He sighs, "Technically speaking, robotics have come quite far, so _theoretically_ , I'd just need learn how to build a high tech robot, which in and of itself would be no easy feat, especially since I know very little about the subject, but _if_ I **could** , from there it would just be a matter of having the parts and equipment capable of handling a program Yui's size. In the case of my computer, I've upgraded it to be top notch, and while it _can_ store Yui _and_ let her actually run, unlike the NerveGear which was only capable of holding her saved data, my computer isn't exactly _small_. With our phones, we're trying to figure out a way that she can just connect to them, like a call, since our phones can't handle upright holding her. For a robot though, she'd not only need that equipment and need it to be reasonably compact, but she'd _also_ need easy mobility and be able to blend in, which just isn't possible at the current levels of technology."

She smiles, "I knew you were already working on it. Told my mom as much in fact. I may actually have a solution to the problem of her body from the magic angle, but considering I know next to nothing about technology and programming, it'd probably be much easier for _you_ to learn some of the stuff we'll need. Actually, while I obviously can't give you a timeframe before we start working on it and figuring out exactly what problems we're going to be facing and how difficult the project would be over all, I can say that it probably isn't unreasonable to say it should be done in a couple years _max_. But you probably shouldn't tell Yui that part if you talk to her about it, I wouldn't want to get her hopes up in case it ends up being now complicated than I'm assuming."

Her mate sucks in a breath, "Really? That soon? That's- That's amazing! I- Wait, no. Hold on a moment."

She can just _barely_ hear what sounds like her mate using a keyboard and mouse for a minute before a familiar yawn precedes an equally familiar voice, "Papa? What's going on?"

Her mate's voice is excited as he answers, "You're mama's on the phone, she says she might have a solution to getting you a body of some sort, we just don't know how long it'll take."

Her daughter's voice is full of childish glee and excitement, "Really?!"

She hears her mate laugh, "Really. Go on Marzanna, I've talked to Yui about magic a bit when I was telling her about the real world and you're on speaker, so you're all set."

She shakes her head lightly, then begins explaining, "Here's the thing, magic and technology don't tend to mix under natural circumstances. Magic is wild and chaotic and _powerful_ and tends to overload technology. Up until the nineties, it was actually considered impossible to get the two to coexist harmoniously, but at the tail end of the nineties, nineteen ninety-nine to be exact, a couple methods of protecting technology from magic were discovered. From there, ways to _enhance_ technology with magic began coming about in force, and the field of magic known as Technomancy was born. That's why I say I need your help. Seeing as I know about as much as the average person does about technology and you know a hell of a lot more, you'd probably understand it better _and_ make better use of that knowledge than I can. I can handle creating the actual body itself, though I'll probably need to look into it more in depth to figure out which type of artificial body would be best, but you'd be in charge of figuring out how to actually get Yui _into_ something we can put inside and what it should be, and figuring out how to get the two to meet so Yui can control her body from whatever her programming is running through would be where we'd intersect. I know you said it'd be hard to find something capable of holding and running a program her size, but she doesn't actually need to be _stored_ there. She just needs to be able to control her body and receive data from it, like sight and hearing, all that stuff. That'll probably be easier than just storing her, right? Plus she'd be safe even if the hardware got damaged... There's also the fact that while I don't know for _sure_ , I doubt Yui wants to give up virtual worlds completely, and I'm not sure I could create a body that could use a NerveGear or AmuSphere or anything like that."

Her daughter hums, "No, I'd prefer not. I liked playing with Papa and Mama in Aincrad, and Papa and Aunt Leafa in Alfheim."

Her mate let's out a hum of his own, "Maybe… A reverse of the NerveGear?"

Her face scrunches up in confusion, "... What?"

Her mate clears his throat, "So, the NerveGear, and AmuSphere for that matter, works by basically cutting off or dampening the signals your brain receives from your body, then sends it about whatever virtual world you're in, right? What you're basically saying is that we need that in reverse. Something that'll cut off the flow of data that Yui is getting from virtual reality and replacing it with data from her body in the real world, right?"

She smiles, "Yea, basically."

He hums again, "That… should actually be a lot easier than what I was thinking about. Not that it'll actually _be_ easy, mind you, you are basically asking me to replicate top of the market tech in reverse while simultaneously changing it so that rather than electrical impulses that simulate the impulses between your brain and body it'll use the sort of raw data Yui uses to process the world, but it should still be easier than the alternative I was thinking of. Especially since Yui should be able to help out a _lot_ more, she understands how the data she uses to process the world actually works better than anyone after all. Of course, you've still got the issue of the actual body itself to figure out, and we still have to work out how to translate whatever sensory data the body registers into the sort of data Yui can actually use, along with how to translate whatever data _Yui_ sends to the body to move into something the body can actually make use of, but… It's a start, and it's already more progress than I've made trying to figure it out. There is the issue of me actually needing Technomancy textbooks, and the fact I won't be able to cast any spells I might need for that…"

She nods, then remembers he can't see that, "Right, but my mom's already said she can go pick up any books we'll need. You'll also probably need to study magical theory as well to understand the Technomancy to begin with, maybe not the beginner levels of it, but the higher levels for sure. My mom can get them, and considering it's the magic world, it should be rather easy for her to get them in Japanese and with charmed covers so no other non-magicals realize what they are, Statute of Secrecy and all that. And she can also drop them off at your place so you can get started, I just need your address, I've already got a piece of paper, so anytime you ready."

He quickly gives her his address, and she carefully writes it down, double checking that she got it right before continuing, "Alright, I've actually got a good selection on magical theory books already, but I can't loan them to you, partially because they're in English, and partially because I'm going to need to brush up on it both for looking into the problem of Yui's body _and_ because I've got to do revision so I can sit my OWLs and NEWTs for it and drop it."

There's a brief pause, "That's fine, but… What on _earth_ do you mean by 'sit your OWLs and NEWTs for it'? Are those _tests_? Weird name if they are…"

She laughs, "They are. The magical world doesn't break it's schooling up like the mundane one does. Generally speaking, in the magical world you attend a purely non-magic school until your eleven. From there you enter a school that's primarily magic, but almost all of them teach some amount of non-magical subjects. For the first five years of magical education, you're studying the required core subjects and a few electives to get to OWL level, OWL being an acronym for Ordinary Wizarding Level. Once you've passed those, you choose which classes to continue based on what profession you're looking to pursue, and study for two more years to take your NEWTs, which has the _terrible_ actual name of Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test but is nonetheless the _official_ name of the tests. Since I was fourteen when we got trapped, I was a year away from taking my OWLs, and I'm now _supposed_ to be a year away from taking my NEWTs. So I need to catch up on both my magical and non-magical classes. _Thankfully_ , I was rather far ahead of m+y peers in my magical classes due to being tutored by my family for years, so with a bit of revision, I should be able to take all my OWLs and at the very least _pass_ , even if not with the grades I would've originally had. From there I can drop quite a few classes, and for some of my better subjects, I should be able to even sit my NEWTs. If all goes well, I should only have three magical classes to attend and get caught up to NEWT level on."

There's a brief pause, "Even if it does end up only being three more, I still do _not_ envy you having _any_ additional classes to have to catch up on."

She sighs, "Yea, tell me about it. It shouldn't be _to_ hard to catch up though. As long as I do as well as I'm hoping on my tests, I should just be left with Defensive magic, Warding, and Technomancy, but anything I fail will have to be added to my classes…"

She can practically feel him shudder, "Good luck with _that_. It sounds like you're going to need it."

She rolls her eyes, "Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence there."

He sighs, "It's not that I don't think you can do it, it's just that it's going to be a freaking _nightmare_ to catch up on everything, especially since they'll likely be pushing us to do it at fast as possible, and to add _even more_ classes to that… Yea, no thanks."

She groans, "Trust me, I'm the _last_ person you need to point that out to. I wouldn't be surprised if I had the heaviest course load out of all the magicals that got trapped in Aincrad, so the more tests I can pass _now_ , the better off I'll be…"

He hums in agreement, and there's a few moments of silence before he speaks up again, "Hey… Do you think it'd be alright if I got a scanner and put that stuff on my computer? Yui might be a huge help if she knows the theory as well, and I've got pretty damn good security on my computer, but if anyone happens to hack it and get access to that stuff… There's the whole Statute of Secrecy business…"

She snorts, "Of course. There's a bit of hardware you can buy from almost any Technomancy company that'll allow it to create magical firewall on your computer. It's literally impossible to break through. Honestly, the only reason there's no digital library for the magical world is because there are far too many publishers and self publishers that won't allow their stuff to be put there to make it really mean anything. And the only reason _I_ haven't done it is because by the time I found out it would've been a colossal _bitch_ to scan everything, and both my personal and family's libraries have only grown since then. _Technically_ , it'd probably be totally worth it in the end if I just got around to doing it, but…"

He sorts, "Even if it's a huge hassle, you should still do it… But anyway, as long as it's ok then I'll probably buy a scanner… Assuming I can find one that's cheap enough anyway. And _you_ should stop putting it off before the libraries got any larger."

She sighs, "I know, I know. It's just going to be such a **pain**. Anyway, I should probably go. I've gotta go through my library a bit to find which books I already have that'll help in this project, write a list for my mom so she can get you copies and get _both_ of us books to fill in the gaps that our libraries here undoubtedly have. She'll probably be by in a couple hours."

He hums, "Alright, I'll talk to you later then."

Yui pipes up from the background, "Bye Mama!"

She smiles, "I'll talk to you guys later."

Hanging up, she grabs her notebook and pen again, then heads off. Hopefully, giving Yui a body wouldn't be _too_ difficult, but even if it was, she wouldn't stop until she'd done it. Her little girl deserved to have a chance to meet and live with the rest of her family after all.


	37. Matters of the Mind and Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So, I totally forgot to mention it last chapter, but Dezi (Mike's middle name) means, 'To be filled with yearning or sorrow', which actually has meaning story wise considering Mike's former (and still there even if lessened) guilt over not listening to Marzanna and seeing what kind of man James was. With that out of the way, I hope you guys appreciate how hard it is to write when you're coughing every 5-30 seconds and having to pause every couple of minutes to blow your nose because I've been sick and that's what I've been having to put up with. Actually, I was so sick that that was me getting better, and that didn't start happening til Friday, so you guys are super lucky that the muses were really cooperative this week because I've only really been able to work on this chapter since Friday, and even then, I'm only just finishing this at 12:33 am today, Monday, the day it's getting posted. Also, I don't know if all of you will realize this, or if you'll just think I'm wording things weirdly, but I very purposefully dropped all use of the names Marzanna and Hanna unless someone is calling her one or she's thinking about the differences between the two. I felt like this would add to the whole identity issue thing, and I still stand by that, but good god was it difficult to remember. I even struggled with wording every now and then.

January 27th, 2025

She opens her eyes, allowing her intense concentration to fade and pulling up memories of her time in Aincrad. Almost immediately a sigh echoes around her, _"I'm sorry Mistress, but that doesn't seem to have worked either. I'm still picking up on everything with perfect clarity."_

She blows out a harsh breath in frustration at the latest failure to create some sort of block between her and her weapons, _"I'm starting to wonder if this is even possible Shuraba. Given that you're an intrinsic part of me, it's a possibility that attempting to create a block between us is futile._ "

There's a growl before Osiris speaks up, _"I certainly fucking hope not. It's only been a couple days and I'm already getting fed up with how pitiful you've been recently."_

She purses her lips, unsure how to respond to that. Given how prideful her scythe was, it wasn't surprising that Osiris wasn't taking her recent… _issues_ very well, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Without answering but with plenty of frustration, she goes back to studying her Occlumency book in the hopes of finding some sort of solution.

After a few minutes, Aquila speaks up in a thoughtful voice, _"Lady Marzanna, has it occurred to you that perhaps you are going about this incorrectly?"_

She lowers her book with a frown, _"How so? I mean, we've already thought about that and tried multiple methods already. Everything from trying to alter the blocks meant to keep other people out to the type of mental defences meant to protect against possession or control from curses and cursed artifacts."_

She hadn't been to happy about that last one to be honest. She'd initially skipped over the chapter about defences against cursed artifacts given that her weapons were an extension of herself, initially anyway, they'd grown to more than that, but that was still their _origin_. After a couple days though, Shuraba had suggested trying those to see if they'd help. She hadn't liked the idea _at all_ , the very thought of likening her weapons to such artefacts was _**wrong**_ somehow, disturbing her to her core. In the end it had been a mute point, the mental tactics for defending against such things hadn't helped in the slightest. She'd almost been glad in a way.

Aquila hums, _"Well, from my understanding, a lot of Occlumency is how you_ _ **think**_ _of things, correct? For instance, if you think of thoughts and emotions like the ocean in that it's in constant motion but can sweep you away, then your mindscape is likely to appear_ _ **as**_ _an ocean. You think of them as the written word, as though they are snippets from books, thus your mind is a library, your thoughts, memories, and emotions sorting themselves into their respective volumes. But where are they before they are sorted? They are like… Like radio waves, invisible, but filling the air. You cannot block us from the very air, nor the air from us. Mindscape it may be, but the interaction between us is as natural and constant for us as it is for any land animal in the real world."_

Snapping her book closed, she tilts her head back thoughtfully. Aquila had a point actually. If that was the case though, it should theoretically be as easy as changing how she imagines her thoughts. Though she hadn't thought of them as radio waves, she also hadn't really given much thought to how they were before sorting. They'd just been pieces of the collective whole that was whatever book or book set they belonged in.

She taps her fingers on her book, trying to think of _how_ to change her perception. The first thing that popped into her mind was the term 'surface thoughts' but she hastily discards it before it can take hold. There was a _reason_ her mind was a cavern after all. Though her brother might not have realized it, he'd circumvented the vast majority of her defences simply by using their bond to enter her mind, then had been lucky enough that she'd recognized him and subconsciously let him past the rest.

If he'd been trying to enter her mind like someone _without_ near direct access to her nexus point, he'd have appeared at the bottom of a mountain, near the top of which a nigh impregnable fortress rests. That was her first line of defense, a complete fake out at where everything that was _her_ was kept. In all actually, her mind was thousands of miles below the mountain and it's fortress filled with dozens upon dozens of traps and defenses, along with fake thoughts, memories, and emotions for additional realism. Of course, in one's mind everything must be connected and accessible in _some_ manner, no matter how complicated, otherwise you'd end up with split personalities.

That said, the connection between the fortress and her underground haven was _very_ well hidden, at least in her opinion. The entrance was quite literally hidden inside a high security vault, that contained fake highly important memories to trick people into believing that was what she was hiding. The vault in and of itself was hidden amongst the branching pathways, all leading to multiple fake vaults, of a secret passageway that was hidden inside a secret room. A secret vault hidden in a secret passageway that in and of itself was in hidden in a secret room in the dungeon of the fortress had been confusing enough for most people, despite knowing that the fortress had to be a trick due to the memories inside and knowing her so well, even Uncle Severus hadn't been able to find his way into her underground cavern, and he was the most skilled person in the mind arts that she knew, which included her _grandparents_.

She'd taken a bit of inspiration from Aincrad during her time there though, and added to it. Instead of one rather straightforward dungeon level, she'd memorized and included one level of the labyrinth maze from nearly every floor, including the mobs and traps, and had made _those_ her into her dungeon levels. There were sixty four in total, and due to the varying styles in danger of each floor in the game, you couldn't really use past experience to deal with any particular level of her dungeon. She'd been a bit more clever though. Most people trying to break into someone's mind would expect there to be something on the _bottom_ level, after all, that would make every other floor a defense or at least a stalling tactic against someone trying to invade. Though it was a bit risky since she was sacrificing the extra defenses the addition seventeen floors below it would give her, she'd placed the hidden entrance roughly two thirds of the way down to throw people off even further.

Even then, anyone wanting access would still need to figure out _how_ to gain access to those secret areas, and opening the doors was in and of itself rather of a hidden process. For instance, the hidden room was designed to seem like she was trying to jealously guard her knowledge in rituals and was thus designed as an ideal indoors workplace _for_ rituals. The knowledge she was 'guarding' was in books stored along the walls, but there was all sorts of ritual materials as well. Just to _find_ the secret passageway, you had to do a very specific magic purifying ritual from ancient Egyptian times, the idea being that you were 'purifying' the magic hiding the door, even though that wasn't how the ritual actually worked at all, which was partially why she'd chosen it. Even if someone thought to use a ritual, and actually knew the specific one required, how likely was it that they'd think to use one that worked entirety differently in real life? Not very, but even if they _did_ that was just to _**reveal**_ the door. To open it, they'd have to complete an old Norse divination ritual.

Much like the Egyptian ritual, the actual thing and the metaphorical 'key' to her mental door affects didn't line up. Though she'd made that choice _knowing_ that if an intruder _somehow_ managed to catch on with the Egyptian ritual that the rituals weren't exact equivalents that it would only make it more difficult to pinpoint which ritual was needed to open the door. In real life, if the Norse ritual was done right it could grant the caster visions about whatever questions they had, provided they had the mental fortitude to keep the questions firmly in mind through the pain the ritual brought. In her mindscape, she'd used the concept that it was 'designed to seek knowledge' to apply it as the locking mechanism, with her actual innermost thoughts and the like being the knowledge the caster was perusing. And the other hidden doors had similarly convoluted processes to open them.

However, all of that would be absolutely fucking _pointless_ if she viewed anything as of yet unsorted as _surface_ thoughts, because then they'd _appear_ on the surface, and they likely wouldn't even be in the fortress! While all her already sorted memories would be safe, basically any thought or emotions unsorted would be free game to anyone even _mildly_ skilled in Legilimency! And while her Occlumency was advanced enough that her mind could sort everything subconsciously, and thus automatically, it didn't happen _instantaneously_. Thoughts needed to finish the entire line they'd been following and emotions had to fully play out before her subconscious could decide whether the entire 'chunk' could stay together or if it needed to be 'cut' and sorted in separate places due to abrupt shifts, and if it was the latter she needed to decide where the cut needed to happen, and if it could be clean or if she needed to duplicate some the bits before and after the cut so that both segments would still make sense on their own. That all happened rather quickly, but quick wasn't instantaneous. No. _**Surface**_ _**thoughts**_ was a very **bad** , _**filthy**_ term for her to allow her mind to apply.

After taking a deep breath to calm himself from the mere _**thought**_ of negating all her hard work with such an amateur mistake, she returns to the problem at hand. _Surface_ may be bad terminology for her in particular, but _roof_ wasn't necessarily so. The roof to her cavern was just as protected as the rest of it was after all. Maybe… When she'd been freaking out that last day in Aincrad enough to disrupt her automatic sorting, her emotions had appeared as electricity, and her thoughts as scraps of paper, at least, that's what she'd been told later. It would be easy enough to think of her unsorted emotions as electricity clinging to the roof, but she wasn't sure the scraps would work. Her thoughts had probably appeared like that because her panic had disjointed them somewhat, despite being different aspects of the same subjects, the subjects being the boss fight and Kirito's duel with Kayaba of course. It was a bit more difficult to think of things already cut up when they shouldn't yet be as her thoughts.

She ponders the problem for a few minutes before her thoughts are abruptly cut into by Eryx's voice, _"Maybe you're not thinking of it right, Anna."_

She blinks rapidly in surprise. The personality of her demonic gauntlets tended to be rather quiet and didn't often speak up, unfortunately when she did she tended not to feel the need to fully elaborate, like now. She didn't exactly want _change_ her weapons personalities, but the incomplete ideas often left her more confused and since Eryx tended to remain quiet even when a more in depth explanation was asked for, it usually had to be explained by Aquila, who was most familiar with the other personality and often had a good idea of what she meant.

It's for that reason that she doesn't bother prompting Eryx and instead turns her attention to Aquila, _"What exactly does she mean by that? How else would I think of it but with the written word? They're thoughts! A collection of mental observations, opinions, and ideas!"_

There's a brief pause, and even though she'd only known about her weapons personalities for five days, she knew them well enough to know that Aquila and Eryx were silently staring at each other as Aquila tried to figure out Eryx's thought process. After a moment of this quite, Aquila hummed in understanding, _"Lady Marzanna, the thoughts being in_ _ **words**_ _wasn't what Eryx was referring to as wrong, it was the idea that they are papers that need to be_ _ **cut**_ _into the correct segments. Perhaps you should think of them instead literal words not on paper to be put together in their proper places during sorting."_

She tilts her head slowly as she contemplates the thought. What they were suggesting was like that trick some people used where they wrote in the air with their wands, only it would be her thoughts popping into existence as they occurred and waited to be sorted. The idea certainly had merit, and she couldn't see any other problems with this latest attempt, so she closes her eyes in concentration. For a skilled Occlumens, it was a simple matter to shift one's way of thinking of things if you simply focused, so changing her perception to have her emotions and thoughts represented as the color varying electricity and unanchored floating strings of words respectively was easy. Thinking about it for another moment, she creates a simple translucent shield between her unsorted thoughts and emotions and the memories they join together to form, though she specifically creates it with the thought in mind that messages _meant_ for each other should be able to pass between her and her weapons personalities easily. Once she's done, she opens her eyes and allows her thoughts to drift to what else in Aincrad she can take inspiration from to increase her mental defences. Perhaps using some of the bosses as obstacles?

After a few moments of her musing, Shuraba speaks up again, though she sounds anxious rather than apologetic this time, _"Mistress? Can you hear me? I'm assuming you've already tried testing the new set up, but we didn't get anything, nor did you react when I was asking the others if they picked anything up, so I'm assuming it's working. Please tell me the purposeful messages are getting through though, this solution doesn't work if it blocks us from each other completely…"_

She smiles happily at the success, then purposely 'directs' her thoughts towards her various weapons, _"I hear you just as clearly as before Shuraba, but no I didn't hear you talking amongst yourselves and yes I was already testing whether you'd hear regular thoughts. You can hear me, yea?"_

There's a sigh of relief, _"Perfectly Mistress. It seems to have been a resounding success."_

With practiced ease, she appears at the nexus point of her mindscape, where her weapons personalities are gathered, with a grin, "That's great! Not that I exactly have anything to _hide_ from you guys, I mean, ignoring the fact you're _part_ of me, you've got total unrestricted access to literally everything in my mind, but there's something about it being whatever I'm thinking and feeling right _now_ that makes it… weird, more personal somehow, if that makes any sense. I'm glad to have the privacy, in any case."

Shuraba smiles, "It makes perfect sense to me Mistress, besides _we_ have privacy between ourselves and even from you, so it's not very fair that you didn't have privacy from us."

She nods lightly. A bit of experimenting had revealed that Shuraba and the others didn't have their _own_ mindscapes. Being extensions of her soul that had gained sentience of their own, they shared _her_ mindscape. Though they could technically change her mindscape as they pleased, there wasn't any bookshelves or anything storing _their_ memories. Eventually they came to the conclusion that their mental forms were basically walking talking storages for their memories.

A sudden idea hits her and she looks around thoughtfully. Though they _could_ change her mindscape to their will, they tended not to out of respect of it being hers, despite the fact they shared it now. She'd tried telling them that since it was as much theirs as it was hers as long as they didn't mess with any traps or outright get rid of anything, which would damage memories at the least and her mind at the most, they were free to change things to their liking. She was fairly certain Osiris was the only one to take her up on the offer, making a little room for herself near Pandora's box.

With another grin, she concentrates _hard_ on expanding the nexus point, pushing _everything_ outwards as the center expands. Once it's large enough for her satisfaction, she builds a fairly large house in it. Another few moments of particularly fierce concentration and her mindscape bends around Mike's quidditch pitch as it drags itself to be at the back of the house. Another thought moves Kazuto's open aired room(s) to be an actual master bedroom suit, just without a bathroom seeing as that wasn't necessary here.

Finally opening her eyes as she finishes, she turns a grin to her surprised looking weapons, "You don't _have_ to if you don't want to, but I figured since no one else had taken me up on the offer to make themselves more comfortable, I'd make someplace where you don't have to worry about changing anything that already exists. There's plenty of blank empty rooms, or suites if you want to expand, for everyone to design to their preference. Just don't mess with the black door, that goes to Kazuto's connection to me. It's impossible to miss, every other door is white." She turns her gaze to Osiris, "I didn't mess with your room, it's still out by Pandora. Do you want to keep it there, or move it here? Of course, you could also have two rooms if you want, and could even link them via portal doors."

Osiris tilts her head in thought, then shrugs, "Don't know yet, but I have basically the same amount of control here that you do, so I can change things later myself depending on my decision."

She nods, then turns to the others and gives them a go ahead gesture. All but Eryx heads inside, so she turns to her faithful if quiet and sometimes confusing gauntlets. Eryx was pale with dull grayish blue hair held by a lazily worn headband that actually did little to nothing to hold her hair out of her eyes which were dark orange eyes and usually half lidded, like she was bored with what was going on around her, though that was rarely actually the case.

Those same bored looking eyes were staring at her as everyone else disappeared inside, "Something wrong?"

Eryx shakes her head with a slight frown, "... Don't know what I want Anna."

She smiles warmly, "Sure. Do you just want me to design your room for you right now? You could always change anything later."

The other girl nods slowly after a moment of thought, "... Near Aquila."

Her smile widens, "Of course. We can put you right next to her in fact, and if you both agree, you could connect your rooms with a door."

Eryx smiles slightly, "... Thank you Anna."

She smiles again before leading the other girl inside. Eryx had taken to calling her Anna due to her identity issue. As Eryx reasoned, they both _ended_ with Anna even if it was pronounced slightly differently, so no matter which she was it was technically correct. Most of the others had tried following Eryx's lead, but hadn't possessed the natural edge that Eryx had, often they'd stumbled over her name. She appreciated the sentiment, but she'd eventually just asked them to stop forcing it. They were just another thing that Marzanna had and Hanna lacked. That had been much the same reason Osiris had been the odd one out in the attempt from the others, barring Shuraba who didn't actually use a name but a title. As far as she was concerned, Hanna had never used a scythe once, much less _her_ so it was Marzanna _alone,_ the girl who had been the one to forge her as an extension of herself to begin with that claimed the right to wield her. It does make her wonder though. Undoubtful as it was seeing as Marzanna had her family, if for some reason she _did_ decide she was Hanna and Hanna _alone_ , would Osiris no longer respond to her?

She brushes the concerning though aside when she sees the mostly blue and white form of Aquila waiting outside the bedroom she'd clearly claimed, the dark blue door covered in stars was a bit of a dead giveaway. She smiles at the other woman who'd clearly been waiting for Eryx so she'd know which room she picked, "Hey Aquila, do you want a door connecting you two's bedrooms? I'm pretty sure Eryx does."

The no-nonsense personality of her only throwing weapon nods firmly and gives them a brief smile before entering her room, likely to decorate. Aquila had dark blue eyes, hair, and clothing, but was rather pale and had bright white angelic wings. One of the only two of her weapons manifestations that had wings at all in fact, the other being Arbiter who had demonic bat like wings, though unlike Aquila's full sized ones, Arbiter's wings were a bit on the small side. She could understand why Aquila had angelic wings and Arbiter demonic ones, those were their respective natures as weapons, but more than once she'd wondered why only those two had them. Personality maybe? But then, that didn't really explain Arbiter's. For all that her appearance could be a bit on the unnerving side and her rough way of speaking, she was actually generally very sweet by nature.

Shaking the wayward thought off, she turns to the ever patient Eryx and gives her another smile before leading her inside her new bedroom to get started.

* * *

February 1st, 2025

She's revising for her exams in the kitchen, mostly to soothe her mother who worries nowadays if she disappears into her room for to long, when the sound of the floo in the study roaring to life reaches her. Using her finger as a bookmark in her textbook, she heads off to the study to sate her curiosity.

She's a bit surprised to find her twin waiting off to the side of the fireplace, but before she can ask her question is answered by Hermione stumbling through. The brunette would've fallen flat on her face if Mike hadn't caught her, and she lets out a frustrated sigh as she straightens and pulls away, "Ooh, I _hate_ floo travel!"

Her twin smiles warmly, "Only because you're not very good at it. Unless someone's there to catch you, you always end up on your face."

That earns her brother a light smack on the arm before Hermione sighs again, "Thanks for catching me…"

His smile widens, "I'll always be there to catch you."

Hermione blushes, and she feels her brother begin to panic at his possible mistake. Without hesitation she steps into the room fully to both save her brother and simultaneously greet him, "Mike!"

Her brother whirls around with a huge smile, and a mental wave of relief and gratitude, "Marzanna! You're looking a lot better already!"

She hugs her brother in greeting, which he enthusiastically returns, and immediately her breath hitches as that knot of anxiety in her chest that's been there almost the entire time she's been home loosens considerably. Without thinking about it, she tightens her grip on her brother, burying her face into his neck. She feels a wave of concern from him, but simply shakes her head. She honestly doesn't know why… It hits her like a speeding train. Mike had been Marzanna's brother when they were younger, and after they reunited, but he'd also accepted Hanna with ease when he experienced _her_ memories, _**including**_ one where he was literally in her place as she **killed** someone. Admittedly one of the ones that had threatened her mate and she didn't much care for, but he'd nonetheless _lived_ through one of her murders from her perspective, plus he _knew_ of the others and he hadn't pushed her away in the slightest. Mike was the only one that accepted _her_ , no matter who she was and _despite_ the blood on her hands. Even if he called her Marzanna, that was simply because that was her name as far as he knew, she was _certain_ that if she told him it was Hanna instead that he'd accept it with ease.

She trembles at the realization, and Mike tightens his grip, "Marzanna?"

She shakes her head again, and just clings to him for a few more moments before reluctantly pulling away a bit and changing the subject back to the previous topic, "Nephilim and all. Fast recovery. Not that I'm fully recovered, mind you. Dad and Uncle Vergil think it'll be about another week to a week and a half at the pace we've been going. So, how on earth did you two manage to get away?"

He hesitates briefly, clearly unsure if he should just let it go, then shakes it off gives her a relieved look, "I'm glad your recovery is going well." Then he gets a mischievous grin, "But technically speaking, we _didn't_ get away. As far as anyone but Uncle Severus knows, we're _somewhere_ in the castle, even if they don't know exactly where. And since it's Saturday, it's unlikely anyone will be looking for us."

Her lips twitch, "Uncle Severus let you escape through his floo? _Really_?"

Mike shrugs, "It took a lot of convincing, but yea, he did."

She shakes her head with a grin then turns to the brunette, "You must be Hermione. I've heard quite a bit about you."

The other girl smiles, "I am, and likewise Marzanna." Her gaze drops to the book and her eyebrow raises, "Intermediate Transfiguration? Are you revising for your OWLs?"

She gives the book a rather irritated look, "Yes. I was pretty far ahead in most of my classes due to private tutoring from my family, enough so that I'm fairly confident I can at least pass my OWLs with a bit of revision, but Transfiguration has always been my worse subject. Though that's probably because I hate it."

Hermione's eyes widen, " _Hate_ _Transfiguration?_ " The brunette says it with such dumbfounded disbelief that it almost pulls a smile from her. Hermione shakes her head wildly, "How could you _hate_ Transfiguration? I mean, it's so _fascinating_ , changing the matter of one thing into that of another. I suppose it _is_ difficult, but that's no reason-"

She shakes her head and the other girl cuts off to give her an inquisitive look, so she explains with a bit of a sheepish smile "It's not exactly fair to Transfiguration, but it's not because of its difficulty that I can't stand it. If that were the case I wouldn't be taking things like Warding and Spell Crafting. No, that's not why I can't stand it. The problem I have with Transfiguration was that it was always **Potter's** favourite branch of magic, his forte, and it always reminds me of him. Which again, isn't very fair to Transfiguration and it's probably a bit silly as well, but…"

She shrugs, "It didn't doesn't change how I feel. Nor does it change the fact that I've always struggled with it because of that hatred. Which is why I'm studying it now. It's the only OWL I'm actually worried about, and I'll definitely have to do revision on it multiple times if I want to pass. Which I do. I figure if I had to be forced to take the class for four years because it's a core subject, that I better at least fucking pass."

Hermione nods, "Yea, that's understandable I suppose. Both things that is. Err… Would you… like some help revising? I mean, we just came by because Mike wanted to see everyone, but if you struggle with it I'd be happy to help…"

She nods with a smile, "Sure. Thank you."

The other girl flushes, "N-No problem. I'm actually pretty good at Transfiguration anyway, so…"

Turing to her brother she tilts her head, "Aunt Trish and Aunt Lady are manning the New York shop and Dad and Nero are seeing to the Japan shop. Grandpa is in the forge making some replica weapons. Uncle Vergil is going over some finances right now, but you can't go see him at the moment because Grandma is also meeting with a client, from what little I heard, it sounds like a couple of that bastard Agnus' pseudo hell gates have cropped up in the UK, though the client obviously doesn't know what a hell gate is, so I can't say for sure. Aunt Kat is out with Kyrie grocery shopping, and Mom's going around tidying up."

Mike nods, "I'll go say hi, see how everyone's doing, then join you two in a bit, alright?"

They nod, then part ways. Heading back into the kitchen, she opens her book and sets it on the table before turning her gaze to the brunette seriously, "Listen… I'm not going to beat around the bush. My brother has feelings for you. Romantic feelings."

Hermione flushes brightly, "W-What? D-Don't be preposterous. Mike doesn't-"

She shakes her head, "He does. Did he even tell you what happened that first time he came to see me? How after so many years apart, our bond allowed us to see some of each other's memories as it resynchronized?" Hermione nods slowly, clearly unsure, but she simply continues, "That was after the Yule Ball. Do you have any idea how much you hurt him when he had to backtrack and say that he was asking to go simply as friends?" Hermione's eyes widen, but she continues with a tired sigh, "I'm not saying you _have_ to reciprocate my brothers feelings, I'm just saying that you have to make a decision and _tell_ him. That fool brother of mine… Your friendship means to much too him to even remotely hint at it after the ball, but at the same time he's only letting himself wallow in what he firmly believes is false hope because you've never outright rejected him, simply hesitated about the ball. It's tearing him up, so you need to say _something_ , whatever that decision may be. That said… I like you Hermione, I think we could be great friends, but if you _do_ reject my brother, you better damn well do it gently, because if you break my brother's heart, I _will_ hurt you."

Hermione stares at her for a few moments, "I understand, but are you _kidding_ me? I've been trying to hint at us going on a proper date, not just wandering down to Hogsmeade as _friends_ , for over a year now and he just doesn't seem to freaking pick up on it! Though now that you tell me that, I suppose it makes more sense… _Idiot_ boy! I didn't hesitate when he asked me to the ball because I wasn't unwilling to try, I've never had anyone even _remotely_ interested in me like that, of course I- Urgh!" She fumes for a few moments, then let's out an aggravated sigh, "I'm going to have to be blunt with him, aren't I?"

She hums in agreement, "Undoubtedly. My brother can be a stubborn, blind, _idiot_ sometimes."

There's a few moments of silence, then the very person they were talking about wanders in, stopping beside Hermione, "Everything alright I'm here? I thought I heard shouting."

Hermione turns to give him a look that's partially irritated and partially thoughtful, "Perfectly fine. We were just talking about how moronic boys can be. You in particular."

Her brother jolts at that, "M-Me? What'd I do?"

Hermione shakes her head before seeming to reach a decision. Standing up, she quickly reaches out to grab his collar just as he starts to nervously back away, then yanks him down into a frustrated kiss. She grins as her brother flails momentarily, practically _feeling_ his brain short circuit before pointedly blocking their connection, having _**no**_ desire whatsoever to know what starts going through her brother's head after he recovers from the shock. As soon as he begins eagerly returning the kiss and she's therefore sure he isn't going to muck it by doing something stupid like pulling away in panic, she pointedly turns her attention back to her Transfiguration textbook in smug satisfaction.

After a few moments, the sounds of the two kissing stop, and a panting Hermione firmly informs Mike, " _You_ are a dense moron, and I fully expect you to take me on a proper date soon, not just going to Hogsmeade as _friends_ , like I've been hinting at for over a year now, understand?" She glances up to see her brother, seemingly to dazed for speech, nodding absently as he stares at Hermione with a sort of fragile but hopeful awe. Hermione nods, "Good. As long as we understand each other, you should go back to visiting your family while I help your sister with her Transfiguration. We'll have plenty of time together at Hogwarts after all."

He looks reluctant, but nods and begins to wander out before seeming to realize something and whirling around, "Wait a second! Marzanna, you _told_ her?! You-"

Hermione cuts him of, "Never mind that, she was only trying to look out for you." He opens his mouth to protest, but Hermione pushes on, "Besides, I wasn't joking or exaggerating when I said I'd been hinting at you taking me on a date for over a year. Honestly, I was beginning to think you _did_ notice and just weren't interested, and give up on it."

Mike gives her a horrified look, then nods shakily before leaving. Hermione blushes a bit after he leaves, "... I didn't expect him to take that last part so badly."

She shrugs, "My brother's got it _**bad**_ for you. I'm sure you'll see for yourself in time if you're going to be dating. So, Vanishing?"

Hermione jolts out of her thoughts, then gives her a slight smile, "Right, of course."

* * *

February 7th, 2025

She nervously stares at the building in front of her. Being a 'SAO survivor' it hadn't taken much for her mother to set up counseling sessions, especially since this entire facility was on the grounds they were working on setting up the school and like the school was _for_ those that had been in SAO, they'd also gotten a bit of help from Kikouka in order to make sure she got one of the counselors who knew of magic. She was rather nervous though.

Easily picking up on it, Nero places a hand on her shoulder, "It's alright Zanna. We did a thorough check, and while one of the counselors _was_ working for demons, they've been… taken care of. You don't have anything to worry about, alright?"

She bites her lip, but nods slowly. Her dad, Aunt Kat, and Nero had come with her in a show a support, but it didn't do much to soothe her anxiety. Taking a deep breath, she makes her way through the door, then scowls. The door had a small hallway that led into a reception area, but the end of the hallway was blocked by a few people who were chatting amongst each other. She didn't recognize most of them, but she was pretty sure she vaguely recognized one of them as a member of the DDA, which meant the others likely were as well.

Moving forward, she crosses her arms, "Excuse me, but you're kinda blocking the door."

One of them begins to turn to her with an irritated expression, "Can't you see we're-" He cuts off and pales as he sees her, "S-She-Devil Hanna! D-Did you need something?"

His friends all jolt in shock and whirl around to stare at her nervously. She scowls, "You. Are. Blocking. The. Door. _Move_."

He nods vigorously, "R-Right! Of course! S-Sorry!"

Without another word, he and his friends scramble away. She stares after them for a moment before Nero pulls her attention away, "She-Devil Hanna? What was _that_ about?"

She sighs, "An ironically accurate moniker. Long story short, I lost my temper against a boss and ended up scaring the shit out of the other front liners, who ended up giving me that moniker. They never really got over it, despite the fact it was fifty floors and a year and a half ago." She shakes the memory off as she reaches the receptionist, "Err, I'm here for an appointment?"

The receptionist looks up, then smiles reassuringly, "Of course dear, name?"

She hesitates, but Kat quickly answers for her, "Sparda Marzanna."

The receptionist starts navigating her computer, likely looking for her on the schedule, then nods with a smile, "Ah, here we are. Your appointment is in five minutes. Why don't you take a seat, and I'll let them know."

She nods lightly, "Thanks…"

She flops down into one of the chairs with a sigh, but it feels like she's barely settled herself before one of the doors opens and woman calls out, "Sparda Marzanna?"

She hesitantly gets up, and the woman smiles at her, holding open the door for her. She slips by wordlessly, and the woman quickly leads her to a comfortable office, "Hello, I'm Maki Hiroko, I'll be your counselor for the foreseeable future, why don't you make yourself comfortable and we'll get started."

She seats herself on the couch unsurely, and the woman gives her another smile, "Before we get started, how do you prefer to be addressed? By your birth name, or your screen name?"

She gives the woman a started look, "Err… I… Don't really know."

Hiroko gives her a look of sympathetic understanding, "That's quite alright. Identity issues, while not the _worst_ of the side effects we've been seeing, are perhaps one of the most common. Still it does leave me unsure how to address you."

She stares at the ground for a minute before hesitantly offering, "You could call me Anna. Eryx, an… acquaintance of mine has taken to calling me that, since it technically works either way."

The older woman smiles again, "Anna-san it is then. You've never been in counseling, correct?"

She flushes lightly, "... Is it that obvious?"

Hiroko laughs lightly, "It is rather obvious, but it being in your file doesn't hurt either. You really have no reason to be nervous Anna-san, the only intention I have is to do my best to help you." She nods in understanding, but her hesitation and nervousness don't really dissipate all that much. Seeming to pick up on that, the older woman smiles again, "We don't have much time today, but I've always felt it's best to just have a short session getting to know each other a bit first, so why don't we do that? I'll start. I recently turned twenty-six and am married. I have no siblings and I'm an orphan, but I have two aunts and three cousins I grew up with. I like coffee, rain, and manga. I can't stand strawberries or people who don't even try to understand others. A hobby of mine is drawing, though I'm admittedly not all that great at it. My goal was to be a counselor and help people, but I'm doing that now quite happily."

She fidgets slightly, then hesitantly begins, "I'm 16, and while not bonded, I was lucky enough to meet my soulmate in Aincrad." The older woman's eyes widen, but she doesn't interrupt, gesturing for her to continue, "Err, I still have my parents and even my grandparents, three aunts, four uncles, a cousin who is more like a big brother than anything along with his wife, and my older twin brother. Technically, my aunt's and all but one of my uncle's aren't actually related to me, but they're still family. Though it can be… rough, I like my job as a Demon Hunter since it lets me help people, and though I never really had a preference for any particular sort of weather before, my mate's love of cold weather and snow have caused me to enjoy such things immensely myself, and I've always loved reading. I can't stand prejudiced people, utter _**idiots**_ who are as much a danger to others as they are to themselves, and manipulative assholes who think it's their _right_ to take anything they desire. One of my hobbies is playing video games, and despite everything that still holds true. My goals are to be a great Demon Hunter and to become a Crafter, of Spells, Rituals, _and_ Wards."

Hiroko chuckles, "Quite ambitious, aren't you? And lucky as well, to not only have met your soulmate but at such a young age…"

She hunches in on herself, "... Yea. I guess…"

Hiroko raises an eyebrow in astonishment, "You don't consider yourself lucky to have met your mate?"

She shakes her head firmly, "No. That's not it at all! I… I'm _incredibly_ lucky to have Kazuto in my life… for however long that may be…"

Hiroko frowns upon hearing the last mumbled bit, "You think your mate will reject you?"

Her gaze drops to the floor as she gives a bitter smile, "Why wouldn't he? I… He knows about magic, but…. I don't know if you were informed, Hiroko-san, but we Spardas are Nephilim, hybrids between angels and demons. I can't imagine him wanting to stay with me when he finds out his wif- his _girlfriend_ is not only not human but part demon. No matter who I am, his mate is either Marzanna the half demon or Hanna the murderer."

Hiroko gives her a contemplative look, "I was informed, yes. I'm assuming from your little stumble that you two were married in Aincrad?" She nods, mentally preparing herself for the 'you're too young' or 'it doesn't mean anything to have gotten married _there_ ' arguments she'd already gotten tired of in just the couple days she'd been in the hospital. To her surprise however, Hiroko simply nods, "I see. Personally, I don't think it's very fair to consider unions that happened there as illegitimate. If anything, they're even more meaningful, considering the higher level of danger present in that world. While some argue that it pushed players to emotionally exaggerate their bonds with each other and find false love as a sort of coping mechanism, from what _I've_ personally seen, it almost seems like the opposite. With players being so focused on survival and escape along with being so suspicious of each other and jealously guarding their inventories, it seems to _me_ like it took far more for the average player to even consider such a thing at all, given the shared inventory function."

Those words cause her to relax a bit, "For the majority of the game that was true. Towards the end though, about three months before we prematurely got out, players started to get used to Aincrad, or maybe just resign themselves to not getting out despite the steady progress the front liners had been making. I'm not quite sure which was the case, but marriages became more and more common towards the end."

Hiroko tilts her head, "I hadn't heard about that before, but I suppose it makes sense. It's surprising the sort of conditions people can acclimate themselves to given time, and after almost two years…" The older woman shakes her head, "And what of you and your mate? Were you one of the ones who married towards the end?"

She snorts, "We got married a little over a year into the game. We'd been party members since day one, and started dating about six months later. Honestly, it was pure luck we ended up meeting at all though. As I'm sure you realized on your own, I was one of the international beta testers, and while more local, he was a beta tester as well. We never actually met in the beta though. My dad had let me stay up for the official launch as long as I was asleep by a certain time, and being determined to make the most of my time I'd gone grinding almost immediately. When I couldn't log off or reach a GM, I started to get a bad feeling and took to grinding as quickly as I could. Kirito, that's his screen name, had run into a player by the name of Klein that had realized he was a beta tester from the fluidity of his movements and how he knew where he was going and had convinced him to help him learn the basics. When I got close to my weight limit, I started heading back to town, and ran into the two relaxing on a hill after Kirito had finished showing Klein the basics. Considering Kirito likely would've gone off to grind as well if they hadn't met and that _we_ might not have met if that had been the case, you could say the only reason we met was because of Klein. He actually ended up becoming one of Kirito's best friends, and a rather good friend of mine as well…"

The woman smiles, "That's incredibly lucky then. What of Klein now? Did he survive?"

She nods with a slight smile, "Alive and still poorly flirting with basically every remotely pretty girl he meets."

Hiroko nods in understanding, then sighs, "I'd like to move back to something you mentioned earlier. You called Hanna a murderer." She tenses, and the other woman's eyes soften, "Your mother came in with Kikouka-san in person to make sure you got a counselor in the know about magic, and we talked a bit. From my understanding, while you did kill six people and 'assisted' in the deaths of two others, they were all in defense of yourself, your mate, and the other players of Aincrad, as seven of them were ruthless murderers and the last was Kayaba Akihiko, who needed to be defeated in a battle to the death before the players could go free."

She purses her lips, "That as it may be, I still _killed_ people. While I can't bring myself to care much about the two I assisted in or the first I killed seeing as they all tried to kill my mate and my instincts won't let me care. When it comes to the other five… the ends don't justify the means. They may have been murderers that needed to be stopped, but to _kill_ them without hesitation… What makes me any better than them in the end? I'm just as bad, aren't I?"

Hiroko sighs, "Though not magicals, two of my clients were there that day against Laughing Coffin. From what I've been told, hesitation led to the deaths of more than a few front liners when it came to those that refused to surrender. So let me ask you something. Did you kill _all_ of the Laughing Coffin members you fought, or did you let them live if they surrendered?"

She jerks at the question, "Of course I let them live! I wouldn't just- just straight up murder someone willing to give up!"

Hiroko gives her a sad smile, "Then why is it that you can't accept that you only did what was necessary to stop those that wouldn't?"

She scowls, "Just because they _wouldn't_ surrender doesn't mean I had to kill them…"

Hiroko raises an eyebrow, "Oh? Then tell me, how would you have subdued them otherwise? Surely you aren't seriously suggesting that those taking the ones who surrendered into custody should've attempted to subdue those who wouldn't? They would've gotten killed trying."

She purses her lips, "No of course not! I- I could've- I don't know! Broken their weapons I suppose! In that game, any weapon was liable to break if you hit it in just the right spot at the right angle. I could've done that!"

Hiroko sighs, "At which point they would've either drawn a backup weapon or teleported away. It's doubtful they could've been captured before they could do one of the two. Besides, from my understanding, unless it's a weapon that all but announces its weak point by being overly flashy, finding that 'sweet spot' and precisely striking it is nearly impossible. And again, even if you could've, they likely would've just used another weapon or escaped."

She shakes her head, "There had to be _something_ else I could've done."

Hiroko tilts her head, "Then why didn't you think of it at the time?"

She purses her lips, "Maybe because I was selfishly more focused on my mate who I'd been separated from?"

The older woman sighs tiredly, "Perhaps. And you feel like this, along with your race will drive your mate away?"

She looks towards the ground, bitterly biting out, "How could it _not_? I'm a monster, plain and simple. A half demon, murdering monster. Who would want that for a mate?"

Hiroko hums, "That's a matter of perspective though, is it not? A person could just as easily argue that you're a half angel savior." She purses her lips, and Hiroko continues, "Tell me, did your mate kill anyone in Aincrad?"

She gives the woman a confused look, but answers anyway, "Yea, Kuradeel, someone who tried to kill us and one of the deaths I assisted in, Kayaba, for obvious reasons, and three others during the fight against Laughing Coffin."

Hiroko gives her a questioning look, "And do you think any less of him for that?"

She scowls a touch angry the older woman would suggest such a thing and her tone becoming sharp because of that, "No."

The older woman holds up her hands in a placating gesture, "I meant nothing by the question. I merely wonder why, if you don't hold it against him, why you think he will hold the same against you."

She purses her lips, "It isn't the same."

Hiroko raises an eyebrow, "Why? Because you aren't human?"

She shoots to her feet angrily, "Yes! It isn't right! I'm so much stronger than a human could ever be, I could _easily_ break even the most durable of them in half if I wasn't careful! It's a disgusting abuse of power! When you're so much stronger, have so many different skills like my heritage gives me, there's _always_ another option!"

Hiroko tilts her head, "That's true… in the real world. In Aincrad however, you were on the same playing field as everyone else. In Aincrad, you may have been stronger due to levels, but you were never _inherently_ stronger."

She clutches her fists, "It doesn't matter. I still should've been able to find another way- I should've- should've-"

She isn't even aware her breathing is becoming dangerously erratic until Hiroko lifts her hands in a placating gesture again, "Easy Anna-san. Just take it easy. Why don't you sit back down and take a few drop breaths. The last thing I want is to drive you to a panic attack." Sitting down reluctantly, she starts forcing herself to take deep breaths, "That's it Anna-san, deep breaths. Just take your time and calm down."

After a few minutes, Hiroko smiles gently, "That's better. Why don't we come back to this topic another time, and you tell me a bit more about your time in Aincrad."

She sighs, rather reluctant to come back to the topic at all, but glad to be off of it for the time being, "Like what?"

Hiroko hums, "You said Klein was a friend of yours. Surely there were others? Why don't you tell me a bit about them? That seems like a lighter topic."

She nods lightly, "Hmm, already talked about Klein a bit, so I suppose a good place to start would be Diabel. He's one of my best friends, and the only friend I had in the beta. He can be a manipulative little shit sometimes, but I still love the guy. Non-romantically of course. Argo is the other person I'd consider my best friend, minus Kazuto but he's sort of a given as my mate. She was an information broker, she was known to be willing to sell anything but the identities of the beta testers for the right price, but I always found her far more reliable than that, though I admittedly was probably shown favoritism as one of her best friends."

She hums in thought about who she should mention next before continuing with a smile, "Silica is basically an adoptive sister to Kirito and I. We'd actually been trying to track down a small murder guild called Titan's Hand and just happened to run across her while she was in a rather tight spot. Her familiar had just died and she would've followed if we hadn't come along when we did. She was utterly heartbroken at the loss of Pina, her familiar, and Kirito ended up offering our help. Admittedly I wasn't too sure at the time, because while I _did_ want to help, we'd already made a promise to a man named Manu to do our best regarding Titan's Hand. Lucky, it worked out rather well on its own After making it back to town we found out that Rosalia, the leader of the guild, happened to be Silica's former party member. Neither of us were too comfortable with the idea of _using_ Silica, but the best way to help both her and Manu was to use her and the rare familiar revival item as bait. Thankfully, in the end we managed to capture all of the members of Titan's Hand without any death and revive Pina."

She lifts her gaze thoughtfully, "Agil is the other person I'd say is one of Kirito's best friends, along with Klein. He was a regular front liner from the very first floor onwards, but eventually he stepped away from that a bit to open a shop. He used the majority of his funds to help mid-level players out, though for some reason he went out of his way to hide that from the other front liners. He never really slacked off in his leveling though, and he ended up taking part of the last boss fight before Kayaba was discovered."

She tilts her head, "Asuna wasn't a friend at all for the longest time, being far too much of a slave driving, workaholic, bipolar _bitch_ right up until about six months before we cleared the game, then some shit happened and she loosened up quite a bit and nowadays I'd consider her a rather good friend. She's actually the one who introduced Kirito and I to another friend, Lizbeth, though in a sorta roundabout way. She actually just pointed us to Lizbeth's blacksmith shop when she overheard us talking about getting Kirito a new sword. I actually missed out on it because Argo needed our help so we did something _incredibly_ rare for us and split up, but apparently there were considerable shenanigans on Kirito's part involving breaking the best sword Lizbeth ever made, conning her into making an even _better_ one for him, going to a mountain, fighting a dragon, getting stuck in said dragon's nest for a night, then stealing a ride out of the nest _on_ the Dragon and coming back with the material to forge Kirito's weapon all in the span of less than twenty-four hours after meeting her, but surprisingly she wasn't mad at him by the end and actually became a pretty good friend of ours."

The older woman looks rather bemused, "That sounds rather crazy." She glances at the clock and sighs, "Unfortunately, we're out of time today. Was your father one of the people accompanying you?" She nods in confusion, and the older woman nods, "Good. I'd like to speak with him briefly before you go."

Standing up, the older woman leads her back to the reception area, then moves over to where her family members have seated themselves, "Sparda-san, may I have a word about your daughter?"

He nods, but before he can get up, she simply wanders away knowing that Aunt Kat and Nero will probably want to know and be told at some point anyway. Hiroko's fingers twitch slightly, and she feels the buzz of magic being cast, likely some sort of privacy or silencing spell. While it _does_ keep others from overhearing, it's rather pointless with her considering she actually knows how to read lips, which she does so shamelessly.

Hiroko glances at her, likely making sure she's outside of the barrier, "Sparda-san, your daughter mentioned that her mate doesn't know of her heritage and that they were unbonded. Assuming her mate doesn't reject her, I believe it would be in her best interest to change this as soon as possible. While it would by no means magically solve all her problems, it seems to me that a good portion of their severity stem from the fact she's convinced herself he'll reject her. Again, this won't miraculously fix everything, and she'll likely still need counseling, but I believe it would help immensely."

Her dad seems to sigh, "Yea, my wife said she got that impression as well when they talked after we found out about the whole having to kill people thing…"

Hiroko nods, "I'm not surprised. Normally as a counselor if I have a solution that might help the problem I share it with the client themselves, but given the nature of this particular solution it didn't quite seem… appropriate for it to come from me."

Her dad nods, "I understand. Thank you for your help."

Hiroko nods in return, "Of course. Now, I've got another appointment soon, so I really must be going. Don't forget to schedule your daughter's next appointment before you go. Have a good day Sparda-san."

Without waiting for a reply, the woman releases her barrier and hurries off. As her dad leads her up to the receptionist, she can't help but wonder if her mother and Hiroko are right.

* * *

 

Aquila:

Eryx:


	38. Nephilim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might make you guys mad, but here's the thing, this chapter was originally a lot longer. Originally, there was this part next chapter where Marzanna was just going to warn Kazuto that reading someone's mind without permission was illegal and then they'd move on. Then Muse Kazuto, being Kazuto, just had to ask why. Muse Marzanna's immediate response was to dramatically say "There are plenty of magical diseases in the world. Magic released one in response to the one time the Statute of Secrecy wasn't upheld. You'd know it as the Black Death." but then my brain decided to be the voice of reason and point out that while I'm not good at history it was pretty sure the largest outbreak of the bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, was way too early to have been caused by the Statute of Secrecy being broken. So I looked up both. Black Death- 1346-1353. Statute of Secrecy 1692. Which lead to me looking up catastrophes so I could make that little bit of alternate history to satisfy the curiosity of Muse Kazuto because while I technically could've just changed when the Black Death happened since it is my fic that would've changed everything because butterfly effect and then the fire nation attacked and next thing I know it's occurring to me that I'm going to bore everyone to death by going over legality shit, even if it was vastly simplified. And by the end of it, I had a chapter that was 16,500 words. I got really tempted to just cut the chapter so that I'd have a decent head start on next chapter and eventually that's what's I decided to do and I ended up cutting what might seem like a place where a scene shift would occur but was actually the middle of a scene. So like I said, you guys are probably going to be mad at me, but that's just how things are.

February 18th, 2025

She was leaning against the pool table off to the side tossing the cue ball back and forth between her hands nervously when Kazuto entered the shop with a look of clear curiosity at his surroundings. Straightening up she drops the ball on the table and smiles at him tentatively when he spots her, then gestures to the door near her that lead into the house.

When he reaches her she takes his hand without a word and leads him inside, then up the stairs to her room. Letting go of his hand, she opens the door and goes inside, pausing to close the door behind him before going over to her bed and sitting near the headboard. Pulling her legs up, she crosses them while she pats the bed in front of her.

Kazuto pulls his messenger bag off and lightly puts it on the bed next to him as he sits down. He seems to realize it might be a long discussion as he makes himself comfortable before speaking up, "Sooooo... What was it you needed to talk to me about?"

She sighs, "Honestly, I don't even know where to begin, but I've already told you about magic, and I figured I'd put off telling you the rest long enough."

She sighs again as she looks toward the ceiling as though it would tell her how to explain, "Do you remember that Harpy Demon that attacked us the day I got out?" Her mate nods, so she continues, "Well, reality is... layered, like- like Aincrad or a closed book. What you're familiar with, the layer all humans reside, is basically the 'core' of the world, as it's the direct center of the layers, and affects other layers the most. All of it is connected to some extent, but this one is the most influential. There are other layers belonging to Earth, five actually, but there are eighteen other layers, nine above and nine below. This layer of reality isn't the only one inhabited. Actually, at one point all 23 where populated, but the species that shared the five layers of Earth with humans went basically extinct a long time ago. I'll get back to them later though. Do you remember when we were talking about magic the other day? How I told you that all myths have some truth behind them?"

Kazuto nods, and she bites her lip harshly. She couldn't look at him for this, couldn't bear to see the look on his face when he realizes exactly what sort of monster she is. But he needed to know.

Dropping her gaze to her lap she takes a deep breath to gather herself, and forces herself to continue, "Well, you're familiar with the myths of the beings that inhabit these other layers. Their myths appear in almost every culture around the world, both past and present. The layers break down into three realms, Earth is one obviously. The other two have had various names throughout time, but nowadays they're usually known as Heaven and Hell. Yes, they are in fact, inhabited by what most people today, or in any other era for that matter, would call angels and demons, but they aren't servants of Gods or Anti-Gods. My family are Demon Hunters, but that's not all. You see, we're- that is we-"

Kazuto squeezes her hand, and gently cuts her off, "Hey, take your time. There's no need to rush."

She gives him a small strained smile, "There is. You see, the thing is... The reason I needed to tell you, and need to tell our friends is… because you're in danger... due to associating with me..."

Kazuto inhales sharply, "Just because you're a demon hunter?"

She bites her lip, the worst thing about having to explain was she had only gotten one of the two the most difficult parts to say out of the way, the first being that Kazuto was in danger because of her, but she forced herself to continue anyway, "Not-… It isn't just because I'm a demon hunter. It would put you in danger, but not nearly as much... The reason you're in so much danger is because the demons have a vendetta against my family."

Kazuto frowns, "Why?"

She swallows thickly. This was it. The thing that would most likely ruin her relationship with Kazuto. He may be her soulmate, but there was a limit to how much a person could handle. Being someone's soulmate may extend that, but there was always a limit. A person _would_ leave even their soulmate, as much as that may pain them, if it went past that limit. God, she didn't know what she was supposed to _**do**_ if Kazuto left her. She'd grown so dependent on him, she could honestly barely remember what it was like to not have him around, and she couldn't even _begin_ to imagine what it would be like if she had to go back to living without him. She _**couldn't**_ go back, going forward would be nearly impossible without him on its own, but going back **was** impossible, even for her. She couldn't go back to what it had been like to long to meet her soulmate before she'd actually found Kazuto, she didn't _want_ to go back.

She's yanked from her spiraling out of control thoughts by Kazuto squeezing her hand again, "It's alright. Just tell me."

She lets out a shaky breath, "I- I'm... not... exactly.. human." She glances up in time to see his jaw drop in disbelief, then with a sigh removes the bracelet the permanent illusion hiding her Devil Bringer is anchored to. After briefly contemplating it, she decides it was better to put everything on the metaphorical table, and pushes her wings out of her back. She looks away from him, "I'm a Nephilim, a half Angel half Demon hybrid. They were actually the species I mentioned earlier that used to share earth with the humans, but they were wiped out by the demons thousands of years ago after they refused to side with them in their war against the angels. Being a naturally occurring hybrid though, it's technically impossible for them to go truly extinct unless either angels and demons, or both, go extinct as well seeing as all it would take would be for the two to breed to create more Nephilim. Which is actually exactly how my dad, uncle, cousin, brother, and me came about." She trails off briefly, then glances down at her arm and decides to explain a bit, "Technically, I haven't changed my arm. My species of demon are born with two forms. A human looking one and our demonic one. Our human forms can only handle so much demonic energy though, so it's possible for us to overcharge them, destabilizing the part we charged to much and subsequently destroying it. I accidentally destroyed my human arm when I was younger, so all I have left is my demonic arm. I hide it with an illusion created by magic. All I did was remove the bracelet the illusion is tied to."

Kazuto looks down in thought, then returned his gaze to her, "Will you show me?"

She hesitates, "I guess... Seeing as you're my mate, I suppose you have a right to see..."

Looking away from him, she takes a deep breath and Devil Triggers for the first time in over two years. From previous times studying herself, she knows exactly what she looks like. Like with a partial trigger, her hair turns entirely silver, and spiderweb like veins spread across her face because of the demonic energy she's channeling. That's where the similarities between her partial trigger and full trigger end though. In a full trigger, her skin becomes a dark gray and a rough natural plating of sorts, the very same that covers her Devil Bringer, grows over her legs, back, arms, shoulders, and chest, though it leaves her inner thighs and hips, a bit of space around her wings, a section that starts at her neck and trails down between her breasts and further, the inside of her upper arms and ribs, face, neck, hands, and feet uncovered. Her canines grow wider, longer, and sharper, her lips and the sclera of her eyes turn black, her irises become a glowing red, and she has horns starting from above and behind her ears that curve down towards her chin. Her other arm changes to match her Devil Bringer, though it lacks the additional abilities, and last but not least her feathery angel wings that she had out are replaced by her bat like demon wings and two sets of insectoid wings, similar in shape to those of dragonflies, grow at a forty-five degree angle below her larger wings. There was actually a rather good reason for the multiple pairs of wings, namely that though the bat like ones were what held her weight, it was the insectoid wings that handled the majority of her maneuverability.

She can feel him studying her, and it takes everything in her power just not to let her transformation go, much less stop her nervous fidgeting, the latter of which she fails at spectacularly. During the previous times examining herself, she'd never thought her appearance was horrifying or monstrous, but now that she was revealing herself to her mate, who hadn't even known of magic and magical species before, she realized it could easily be seen as such. She was actually honestly a bit surprised he hadn't screamed at the monster his wife had turned into yet.

She's taken quite by surprise when a hand enters her vision seconds before it rests lightly on her cheek and pulls her gaze back to him. Even more astonishing however, is that he leans forward to kiss her. When he pulls back, he smiles warmly, "It's certainly different, but you're still beautiful, even if not in the conventional way. So please, stop fidgeting and refusing to even look at me."

She blushes lightly as she lets the transformation go, but though the fact he doesn't think she _looks_ like a terrible monster eases it, it doesn't dispel all of her worry, a fact he clearly picks up on if his sigh is anything to go by, "If it wasn't that then what's wrong?"

She licks her lips nervously, not really wanting to explain but knowing it's something she'll _never_ forgive herself if she doesn't point out exactly why he doesn't deserve to be stuck with a monster such as herself, seeing as he hasn't seemed to have realized the implications of her revelation, "It's just… It's _**incredibly**_ uncommon, but it's not… unheard of…. for people to reject their soulmates… And- and nothing in the world will change the fact I'm a half demon murderer. I killed people in Aincrad. You did too, and I don't blame you for that, but you're _**human**_ , you were on equal footing with them. I'm-... I'm **not**. Being what I am, it makes me a lot… I don't really know how to put it without sounding like I'm looking down on humans, but objectively I'm superior to a human in a lot of ways. I'm far more durable, both in the sense that it takes more to hurt me in the first place and even if you _can_ it's not likely to affect me all that badly, I heal a hell of a lot faster, and just faster in general, and I'm physically stronger just to name a few things. Fucks sake! I've literally had my femoral artery torn _and_ been impaled in _fourteen_ different places, _including_ three separate parts of my lungs _and_ once through my _**heart**_ _all at the same time_! Not only did it not kill me, it _literally_ made me stronger since it pressured me into Devil Triggering for the first time. When you're like me, hurting humans is one hell of an abuse of power considering there's actually very little they can do to harm you."

He frowns, "Perhaps, but you didn't have any of that in Aincrad. We were all on equal footing to start there."

She shakes her head, "It doesn't matter…"

He explodes in frustration, "It does though! Don't you see that? It changes everything! Neither of us _enjoyed_ killing those people, but we, _you_ _ **included**_ , only did what was _necessary_ , and that will _**never**_ make me reject you, or stop loving you, or- or whatever other _prosperous_ idea you've got running through your head!" Then he seems to deflate, sighing tiredly, "... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted, but why can't you just _understand_ that I _love_ you and I'm not going _anywhere_. _**Ever**_."

Tears well up in her eyes and he pulls her towards him, wrapping one arm around her tightly, hand resting on her opposite hip and running his thumb over it while his other hand buries itself into her hair, which for once wasn't in a pony tail. For a brief moment he just cradles her head to his chest, then he drops a kiss to her forehead before sighing, "Oh, Marzanna… I can't believe you actually thought-... One of the times I visited you in the hospital, you're mom said that you'd known we were soulmates for a while... And… And not long after Laughing Coffin, you-... You started to pull away from me… Not much, but I still noticed. And there were other things to. Your smile become a bit strained, you didn't laugh as much or as fully… I thought it was _just_ because of Laughing Coffin, but… It wasn't, was it? At least part of it was because you _actually_ believed I'd reject you for what happened that day, wasn't it?"

Her eyes tear up and her throat constricts, so she just nods. He pulls back slightly to look her in the eyes, seeing her tears he quickly brings his hands up to cup her face and wipe them away with his thumbs, "You… I _love_ you Marzanna, more than anyone or even any _thing_ in the world, but sometimes you can be _really_ _**ridiculous**_. I'm not rejecting you, I'm not pushing you away, I'm not going _anywhere_." Apparently picking up on the fact she's still not entirely certain, he sighs before laughing lightly, "We really are a pair aren't we? Because I think I'm finally beginning to understand how _frustrated_ you get when you're trying to convince me I'm not a bad person." That draws a small smile out of her and he grins, "What was it you once said? 'I'm like a vampire, once you invite me in there are no take backs. You're stuck with me.' We really are similar you know. You not getting rid of me so easily either."

She can't help but laugh at that, before teasingly saying, "What, can't even come up with your own line?"

He grins lightly, "Nope!" There's a beat of silence before he abruptly straightens a bit, "Where is everyone anyway? I mean, I know we came straight to your room, but with a family as big as yours I'd have thought we'd seen _someone_ at least. There wasn't even anyone in the shop. Granted, the sign was flipped to closed, but it's 1 in the afternoon on a Tuesday, so that's kind of surprising anyway."

She shrugs, "They made themselves busy elsewhere when I told my mom I was going to tell you today… Not sure what to be honest."

He gets a strange look on his face for a moment, then it then it vary briefly turns contemplative before he nods to himself, "I think I might. When your mom brought those books over for me the other day she also handed me one on soulmate bonding. At the time she just said that you'd forgotten to add it to the list, but that she knew you'd want me to be completely informed about the affects and the like before you'd let me make any sort of decision, but she had this weird hopeful look. At the time I didn't know what to make of it but… You're mom knows, doesn't she? That you've been struggling with this?" She nods slowly, not quite sure where he's going with this, "Well, I read it. All of it. So you can't use that as some sort of excuse Marzanna. Bond with me."

Her eyes widen, "W-What? Now?"

He nods firmly, "Yes. Now. I can't say for sure, but from what I know of your mom, it wouldn't surprise me if she had the house clear out so that we could."

She blushes. He was right. It would be _exactly_ like her mom to make sure everyone was out of the house in the hopes they'd bond. After all, the final step to bonding was to consummate it, and while they could technically just use a silencing spell, she would admit, if only to herself, that she might've tried to use the awkwardness of having her family in the house to put it off. Mostly because she thought Kazuto wasn't really _getting_ what she'd told him, and she'd prefer to give him some time to come to his senses. It would hurt a hell of a lot more if it sink into him what sort of monster she was _after_ they bonded.

She looks away as she casts her mind around for an excuse, but he once again pulls her gaze back to him, "Stop it. Please. Stop looking for excuses. If you really aren't ready, that's fine. But unless the reason is about _you_ , I won't accept it. I won't let you push me away over this anymore than you'll allow me to push you away when I think I'm a bad person who _really_ doesn't deserve you."

She bites her lip harshly, "Kazuto, it's not about me being ready, if it was just that, then there wouldn't be an issue. I've-... I've wanted this so _badly_ for a while now. But I don't think you really understand what you're asking for. We- Angels, Demons, and Nephilim, live a _**long**_ time. My grandparents are _thousands_ of your old. You-..."

She trails off, unsure how exactly to explain it to him, but he picks up where she left off calmly and without hesitation, "Will become like you. I'll outlive everyone I know and love. My parents, my sister, our friends. The only people I won't outlive are you, your family, and Yui." She gives him a startled look, but he just smiles gently, "I told you I read the book. I always thought the most of your family was weirdly young looking, especially your grandparents who I met once while you were stuck in ALO. It wasn't too difficult to put together once you told me what you are. And yea, the idea of outliving everyone kinda sucks, but… It was a possibility, if a slim one, of happening _anyway_. Even if I stayed human my whole life, and even if we take away the possibility of some sort of accident and assume everyone I know dies of natural causes, it's highly likely I'll outlive my parents. I'd probably outlive Klein and Agil, since they're a bit older. The rest of our friends and my sister are all around our age, so even if everyone I knew died of old age, it's technically a possibly that I could outlive them _anyway_. Even Silica is only two years younger than us, so that's not a stretch either."

She looks away, "Maybe. But you'd grow old _with them_. Not watch them wither away while you remain the same, knowing that you have _centuries_ , probably even _**millennia**_ without them ahead of you."

He nods seriously, "I know. And the thought does hurt. _But_ if anything, it just makes me want to bond with you even _more_ , which is saying something because ever since I read that book I've wanted it so badly it's painful. If the thought of watching my family and friends slowly wither away and die hurts so much, I can't even _imagine_ how painful it must be to wonder if that's going to happen to your mate. I already wanted this Marzanna, but I _refuse_ to do that to you."

She looks away, heart aching and wavering at the idea she was hurting him by trying to put it off. Honestly though, the thought hadn't even occurred to her. She'd been, and still kinda was to be honest, so sure that he'd reject her, that she'd never get to see him again except perhaps when it came to Yui, that she'd never even considered him letting her around long enough for get to see him grow old.

He sighs again, "You know… When your mom told me about soulmates, she told me about the phenomenon itself first. Which of course makes total sense, but it left this moment… This one _brief_ moment where I knew what soulmates were, but didn't know you were mine. I remember very distinctly...in that one moment, I remember being willing to give just about anything in the world to be your soulmate. I wanted it so _**badly**_. The thought of you having a soulmate and it not being me, it cut. For that one moment it felt like my heart was made of paper and your mom had just uncaringly dropped it into a shredder before lighting what little remained on fire. And when she told me that _I_ _was_ your mate… Fuck, I can't even describe it. I was just so damned _happy_ and _**relieved**_. It's without a doubt one of the best moments of my life, and while I can't tell you which one is _definitively_ the best, the things it's tied with? The things it's tied with are reuniting with my family after those two years. Finding out that Yui was _ours_ , that we didn't have to give her back to strangers, and later when I managed to save her." He cups her face and smiles, "When I managed to save you from Sugou and knew you'd be safe, that you would be awake when I went to the hospital. When you told me you loved me that first time, and I finally got to kiss you. And every single time since."

She blushes. Well. Shit. How was she supposed to tell him no now? The downside of having a mate and loving them so much was struggling to deny them anything. Especially since she actually didn't really want to tell him no in the first place. She'd managed to stay sorta firm up till now, despite her wavering yearning heart, but how could she after that?

She sighs, "... Ok. But wait! What about your family! I mean, you'll change physically after this, and while it varies depending on the level of changes that will take place, if my mom and Kyrie, not that I was around for hers, were any indication, you'll fall into the maximum edge of how long you're going to be out cold for while you're body changes. They'll be worried if you disappear for thirty-six hours without a word."

He shakes his head, "Your mom is playing at matchmaker enough to give me the book behind your back and clear out the house in the hopes we'll bond. That book said that according to law, my immediate family is just as entitled to knowing I'll be a magical as the family of those who were _born_ magical to non-magical families. I'm sure she wouldn't mind explaining everything for us."

She sighs again, "Alright, alright. We'll do it now."

He grins and his hands drop to her hips, giving a bit of a tug as he tries to pull her closer. She can't help the little grin when he pouts at the reminder that Kazuto isn't nearly physically as strong as Kirito when he fails to do more than move her a couple inches, whereas Kirito would've, and had on more than one occasion, easily been able to pick her up and set her in his lap. Taking a bit of pity on his plight, she moves herself onto his lap. He grins lightly at her, shifting his hands from their resting place on her hips so that he's loosely holding her, then he steals a quick kiss before he rests his forehead against her own.

She blushes again, then gives him an unsure look, "... Are you sure about this?"

He nods firmly, so with one final sigh she locks eyes with him and easily slips inside. Unlike the other time she'd done this at the hospital, she does more than just brush her mind again his, though fuck it all if she hadn't been so _**relieved**_ when the final dose of that _stupid_ potion her mom had given him to give her time to recover finally wore off the week prior. Kazuto obviously wasn't trained in the mind arts at all, there wasn't even a mental door of sorts to keep anyone out, but she hovers outside of the empty doorway to his mind, knocking on the frame to make sure she's welcome. She sees Kazuto roll his eyes before he reaches out to pull her into his mind properly. Just like that she's seeing two things at once. Both Kazuto's eyes that she continues to gaze into to hold the connection in the real world, and a disorderly room.

Without any sort of protection, even without digging through his memories she can easily pick up on what he's thinking and feeling at the very moment and her breath catches in her throat, threatening to strangle her and take away this moment where she's _surrounded_ , _**bombarded**_ with his love for her, the unbridled wonder at being able to feel her in his mind. His unquestionable acceptance of everything that she is, not even a single _**trace**_ of the condemnation, disgust, or hatred she'd been expecting even with his reassurance. It's only when Kazuto's arms wrap and tighten around in worry her in both his mind and the real world respectively that she realizes she's dropped to a crouch and buried her face in her knees in his mind and begun crying in both.

She doesn't even know where to begin, how to explain that absolutely _nothing_ is wrong and that she's crying because everything is just so _**right**_ , so she takes her walls of experience, paranoia, and distrust and drops them so that the flow goes both ways. He gasps as he's suddenly just as able to feel her emotions and pick up on her thoughts as she can for him and his hold on her tightens in both places until it would definitely be painful for another human seeing as he's holding her as tightly as he's physically able to, though it doesn't bother her in the slightest. In fact, she relishes the absolute lack of hesitation on his part.

In the real world, he pulls her in for a searing kiss, even as mentally he just presses one to the top of her head, seeing as her face was still buried into her knees, "Oh Marzanna… I told you, I _love_ you, and none of that really changes _anything_ for me. You can see- _**feel**_ that now for yourself, can't you? Are you _finally_ ready to accept that I'm not- not lying, or-or _hiding_ anything from you? That I _do_ in fact, understand _exactly_ what you told me and what it all means and it still _doesn't change_ _ **anything**_?"

There's still some part of her that struggles to believe it, but she can _feel_ his emotions for herself, can _**hear**_ exactly what he thinks about it all, and between his absolute emotions that hadn't ceased washing over her since she entered his mind and the pain that kept stabbing through him due to what was happening to her, that doubtful part of her had nothing to stand on. She could feel the truth of the matter for herself.

Easily picking up on her train of thought, he nuzzles against her on both places, "Yes, you can. And it's about time you accepted it my silly mate."

She sniffles and nods slowly, trying to pull herself together. He tightens his hold on her, and though he doesn't say anything, she picks up on his understanding and his desire for her to take her time, to just take it easy with the same effortlessness as he had done for her. She relaxes against him fully for the first time since Laughing Coffin. In response he gathers up every ounce of his love for her and wraps it around her, it was like his love was a warm blanket, her favourite blanket in fact, fresh from the dryer that she'd merely been laying on that he'd gathered up the edges and wrapped her up in before curling up with her.

When she's finally calmed down, she starts to feel embarrassed about breaking down like that right before they bond, but before she can even verbalize the apology he picks up on it and shakes his head, "Don't be preposterous. If you hadn't had your barriers up and I'd been feeling all this from the get go, I might've had a mini breakdown myself if for different reasons, and that's without all that crap you convinced yourself of."

She nods lightly, then pulls a bit away from him to stand up in his mind. Finally calmed down, she looks around his mind in curiosity. He wasn't the most mentally organized person, but there was a considerable amount of natural order to his mind. More so than most people started out with before learning Occlumency. At least, it seemed that way. In half of the room, much like with that portion of her mind that was _his_ there were computers and parts scattered all over the place. Unlike with hers, there were far more and some of the computers were on, showing what looked like jumbled lines of text. That was actually why she wasn't _entirely_ sure exactly how organized his mind was, because the lack of any books or scraps of paper lying around implied that the computers were where most, if not all of his memories were stored. Which made complete sense given his interests and skills. That said, it was pretty easy to put a computer on a table or desk and have it look neat and orderly by itself or even with other computers, but that didn't at all mean everything stored on it was in and of itself sorted out in an orderly fashion. She'd undoubtedly begin teaching him Occlumency once they'd bonded, but if that was the case it could take quite a while before he could sort everything out.

She did wonder if her initial impression that he might have a more organized mind than average though, considering everything else in the room, namely white boards with random pieces of information and random knick knacks that seemed to have been tossed into the room without care. Though on a second look she realizes the 'knick knacks' actually seemed to be the majority of their shared inventory from Aincrad, and the information seemed to be things like stats and item prices. They were likely on their own instead of sorted as mere information in the computer due to how important having all that right at the forefront of his mind had been for two years.

She feels more that a bit of humor when she notices that at the bottom of of his stats was a list of his skills and their levels, and at the bottom of the thirteen skills listed are two blank slots, one line circled with '110?' written beside it along with the suggestions, some of them just absolutely ridiculous. It was undoubtedly the mental notation of Kirito having been thinking about what to put in the upcoming free slot, the other being left untouched by the general rule players had to leave one slot free in case they came across a one time quest that gave a skill they wanted. Although both the ink on the boards and the coloring on the item was fading, and the items also looked old and worn out in a way they never would've in Aincrad. It was an indication that after three months the information was finally starting to slowly fading from the forefront of his mind to be stored into the computers with everything else he knew. The only exception were the various coats he'd worn in Aincrad, which remained firmly unfaded on the blank mannequins they rested on. And of course, to top it all off there was a massive bed taking up the middle of that half of the room. It was almost an exact replica of the one in her mind, the only difference being the laptop resting on one of the pillows. She had zero doubt whatsoever that it was the nexus point of his mind.

The only difference was the other half of the room. It was very clearly the part of _her_ that was in his mind. It was neat and orderly, probably more to do with the structured order to her mind due to her Occlumency experience than any propensity or lack thereof to be nature on her part. Ceiling to floor bookshelves took up the majority of the walls with two standing freely with the books facing towards Kazuto's side of the room marking the boundary between the two. What little space between shelves that there was had her weapons, both her Nephilim blade or otherwise, photos of her family and friends but mostly of her and Kazuto, and a bed that seemed like it had been shoved in later as an afterthought. She can't help but blush lightly, both at how much of a book nerd the design makes her out to be, though she knows it's true, and of the fact that she was almost _entirely_ certain that if she'd somehow been able to see this place before they met that the bed wouldn't have been there. The bed was entirely her sleepy heads fault.

It was a strange feeling to notice Kazuto picking up on her more experienced observations and taking in his surroundings with a new perspective, his gaze lingering on her half of the room before anything else and the computers last as strange mixture of determination to get the job done partially to protect his own mind but mostly due to his correct guess that if he left his end exposed it would leave _her_ vulnerable, and a sort of weary curiosity at exactly how much work he has ahead of him, along with stray wonderings at how a computer could convey certain aspects of his memories, like the emotions he was feeling.

A moment later though, he shakes his head and turns to her, and even though she picks up on his intentions first, he still verbalizes it, "That can wait till later though. As you said, I'll probably be physically unconscious for thirty-six hours while my body changes. I can start working on it then. For now though, we're supposed to be doing something.'

She nods with a slight smile before grabbing his hand and leading him over to the large bed on his side of the room, which upon reaching it she's weirdly pleased to discover she'd correctly guessed it to be the nexus point, the weird pressure from it holding the metaphorical weight of his entire mind making the air itself heavier in the area, like submerging into deep water, giving it away. It was the reason she'd never bothered trying to make a fake nexus point in her mind castle. It was impossible. Admittedly, that was also part of what had tipped her uncle Severus off that the castle was fake, other than the fact he _knew_ the memories were also fake, but most people didn't actually go looking for the nexus point in someone's mind. There were few circumstances in which is was useful, and most of them were based on various forms of bonds, the vast majority of which you had to consent for. Though there were some that could be forced upon someone, and if you were trying to utterly break someone's mind, the nexus point was a huge target. Which was why it _always_ lay at the center of someone's mind. It was the subconscious' way of trying to protect itself. It was literally impossible to move it because of that, you had to build any defences or such around it.

She shakes off the wayward thought, which Kazuto had patently let take her on its merry way, or perhaps it was more curiosity than actual patience on his part, a thought that draws a halfhearted noise of protest from him since he knows it's at least partially true. Letting go of his hand, she pushes the sheer hanging aside and gestures to the bed. He grins lightly in amusement at having picked up her intention but crawls onto it wordlessly, settling himself comfortably in the middle before she settles herself into his lap without hesitation, mirroring their position in real life.

She smiles lightly at him before closing her eyes in concentration. Magic could be easily split into three categories Mind, Body, and Soul, almost anything with magic has all three types of it, except for specific cases, such as vampires which lack Soul Magic, which is actually the basis for the myth of them lacking a soul in general, or Inferi which only had the body magic that reanimates them. The magic of the soul can't be used for much, but it's the basis of bonds between Soulmates, obviously, and it's the magic that the Nephilim used to create their weapons, hence being called soul bound. Magic of the body is almost unheard of amongst humans, as it's spells just generally enhance the body. Amongst demons however, this is the magic often considered the most important, as it's almost always the type of magic that powers Styles. Magic of the mind is more versatile, it's the basis for twin bonds, and is what humans use nearly exclusively. Obviously, it's the magic used for the so called Mind Arts like Occlumency, Legilimency, and Obliviation, but while not called mind arts, it's this magic that is used for almost all human spellcasting. It's also what's used for illusion magic, like one of the most famous parts of the Hogwarts wards that makes Muggle's see the school as nothing but ruins. This is actually what makes the Animagus transformation nearly impossible for most people. The Animagus transformation may still be Transfiguration, but it's body magic, which most human magic users have zero experience with.

She gathers all three of these up, along with her demonic and angelic power, and begins weaving them around his nexus point. Despite being in his mind, she doesn't actually physically move there as she does this, it's an entirely mental task. As soon as she starts, Kazuto's instincts kick in and he begins to mirror her actions before he can even actually think to. This was part of the reason, though certainly not the only one, that this older version of bonding had to wait so long, because your partner had to be on the cusp of already changing so that they'd already have a spark of magic to work with.

Once they've both intricately and totally weaved themselves around one another, she begins to gently push her powers down into his nexus. Again she feels her mate mimic her actions. There's a resistance once she hits a certain point and at the very same time she feels Kazuto get stopped as well. She can feel him being held back, and if it was anyone else it would feel invasive and she'd likely react violently, but with him it just feels utterly _**right**_. Without hesitation or even really thinking about it she releases that final barrier in her mind that she hadn't even been _aware_ of until she felt him get stopped by it. Instantly the connection to him in her mind _**snaps**_ into full being and his meager spark of magic becomes a full blown core that almost seems to merge with her own. It's not quite true, it's more like two liquids that don't mix, like oil and water, occupying the same space. Even then his magic mingling with hers doesn't feel _wrong_ even though they stay separate, quite the contrary. It was simply matter that his magic _stayed_ his and vice versa.

Even as all this is going on she feels Kazuto relax his own barrier with the same thoughtless reflex, gasping along with her at the sudden explosion of even _higher_ awareness of each other, though she knows that's partially due to the fact she's both using Legilimency and their deeper bond bombarding them both at once and partially because they're still in the process of bonding which will heighten _**everything**_ between them until Kazuto's body finishes changing.

However, despite how _wonderful_ it feels, it's not… complete. It was like snapping into full existence had unanchored their bond and despite everything, she can't help but blush. The 'anchoring' of the bond was consummation. Despite it being instinctive and totally natural when done this way, rather than a manufactured ritual, it was _still_ a ritual. Soulmates were called such because their souls were already intrinsically bound in a way no other could. When they 'completed' their bond, they were rounding out the magic trifecta of Mind, Body, and Soul. Offering each other their minds unquestionably and unbarred, and finally their bodies to seal the bonding. And of course, their magic since that was why the bonding had to happen in the first place, given that their was an imbalance in how well the the were connected.

She's pulled from her wayward thoughts when Kazuto grins at her, "It's funny that you always call me a nerd when here you are basically reciting the how and why of bonding to yourself mentally out of nervousness."

She might've taken offence to that, if she hadn't known him so well or detected even a hint of anything negative behind the comment, but she can feel for herself that it's pure good natured teasing with more than a hint of fondness and love behind it. He seems to feel the same way about it that she feels about his adorable rambling about programming. Except he understands it. Though it is an easier subject than programming, not that she thought he wouldn't be able to understand it even if she started thinking about the more complex aspects of Spell, Ritual, or Ward Crafting or Magical Theory. Her mate was damned smart after all. Smarter than her anyway.

Picking up on the thought he presses a kiss to her forehead, then smiles lightly at her, "Not true. Your damned smart yourself. I mean, _I'm_ not the one who's doing the magical equivalent of majoring in more than one of the hardest subjects there are. Because I've been learning more about the magical world, and I _know_ that for your ambitions you're going to need multiple Masteries." She smiles at him and his smile turns into an adorable grin, "That said, I'm fairly certain I recall us being in the middle of something?"

She blushes again. She doesn't pull out of his mind, but she does shift her focus to the real world, moving her actual body to wrap her arms around his neck and lean down to kiss him. When he deepens the kiss she can't help but close her eyes, but with the mental aspect of their bond already having swelled into fullness, she no longer requires the eye contact to remain in his mind anyway. Despite her earlier unexpected spike of nervousness and embarrassment, when she actually feels him begin to shift and lower her to her back, all she can feel is excited anticipation to complete their bond. The last cohesive thought that manages to cross her mind is sheer bafflement at how she could've ever doubted her marvelous mate or not only hesitated by tried to actually _put off_ experiencing something as extraordinary as bonding with her mate.

* * *

February 19th, 2025

Fist propping up her head, she smiles down at her sleeping mate, full of so much fondness and love that it almost hurts. Currently they were in her mindscape, having moved there naturally after Kazuto feel asleep when they completed their bond. It made sense. Kazuto wasn't exactly mentally weak, but they'd been in his mind for a decent chunk of time and he was untrained and almost entirely unexposed to magic. His mind wasn't used to containing two people and it had to have strained a bit, much like how one would after their first few Occlumency lessons. Considering she'd also fell completely asleep, with her mind being as inactive as her body, and had slept for a while her mind adjusted to the full bond, that had been almost twelve hours ago.

Her mate's mind would've fully rested itself by this point and she really did need to start teaching him Occlumency. First though, she had to muster up the will to wake him up mentally. A much harder task than she'd thought. Idly she can't help but wonder if it's because it's a side effect of the first bit of untainted happiness they'd both had in awhile, or if it's because bonding has actually legitimately made denying him in anything in anyway, including the sleep he loved so much.

It's as she's staring at his sleeping face, running her fingers through his bangs, and contemplating her seemingly sudden inability to wake him up that she feels a spark of contentment and amusement seconds before the arm loosely curled around her waist tightens. Without opening his eyes, he lets out a sleepy mumble, "Hmm… Don't really care much for the reason if it lets me stay in bed with you longer…"

She laughs lightly, then leans down to press a kiss to his cheek, "Nice to have you back sleepy head. It does pose a bit of a worrying problem though. If I can't wake you up, those problems are definitely going to present themselves when we live together and have jobs."

In response, she feels a weird combination of irritation at the idea of a job pulling him out of bed and away from her, a sort of mature acceptance that it was just how life worked, along with just a touch of worry as he wordlessly acknowledges that it could be a problem. He cracks an eye open to gaze at her, "That is true… It's not something to worry about just yet though."

Her smile widens, "Oh? Is my worrywart finally starting to realize he doesn't have to worry about every little problem every second of the day?"

He hums lightly, a content happiness flowing over the bond from both sides. He stretches lightly, then props himself up on one arm to press a chaste kiss to her lips. When he pulls back he grins lightly, "Maybe. Though it's more likely that most of those problems just don't bother me as much when I'm with you."

Her cheeks heat up a bit at that and she smiles warmly. As she does she gets a flash of thought from Kazuto, mostly just him thinking she's cute when she blushes and smiles like that. It sparks a bit of embarrassment in her, and without thinking about it, she swats at his shoulder, "Shut up…"

He chuckles lightly, pulling her closer with the arm wrapped around her waist, "Technically, I didn't 'say' anything, and besides, I distinctly recall something thinking I was 'adorable' when I started going on about programming. If I'm not allowed to think you're cute, then you're not allowed to think I'm adorable."

She pouts at him, "That's not fair at all…"

He laughs, "If you say so, but I'm not retracting it."

She huffs lightly, "Fine…"

He shakes his head at her, fondness flooding his end of the bond. What little embarrassment remaining slips away and she leans over to give him another kiss. It does occur to her that that they were kissing far more than usual, three times already despite him being awake for less than five minutes. It's not necessarily a bad thing, quite the contrary, just a bit unusual for them. She was fairly certain it was probably just the undercurrent of giddiness they'd both been experiencing since they fully bonded.

With a sigh, she sits up fully, "Well, as nice as this is, we really should get around to working on the basics of Occlumency."

He sighs as well at that, but sits up anyway, "Yea, I know."

Then he finally gets a look at their surroundings and grows confused, so she quickly explains, "We're in my mind now, but this is your part of it. Your mind isn't exactly _weak_ , but it is untrained and unfamiliar with the mind arts. The two of us being in there so long strained it, so we shifted here naturally not long after you feel asleep. We've been sleeping for more than twelve hours already though, so your mind will definitely be rested enough by now."

He nods his understanding, but then his brow furrows, "Is it natural that I'm hungry here?"

She nods, "Yes. The principle behind it is a lot like how hunger worked in Aincrad actually. Your physical body is hungry, so that's transferring here. Much like in Aincrad, you can sort of trick your mind into thinking you're full for a while if you eat something here. The only real difference is that the reason you're so hungry is because your body is burning a _lot_ of energy while it's changing. You'll probably be ravenous when you wake up actually, though with how my mom was silently pushing for this, I wouldn't be surprised if she has a ton of food waiting for you when you wake up. I mean, she probably isn't cooking _just yet_ , we've still got twenty-four hours to go after all, but knowing my mom she'll definitely be ready for that black hole you call a stomach by the time you wake up."

He perks up considerably at that, "Your mom is awesome! Even better, it'll be that delicious food you told me about in Aincrad, rather than the meager salads and sandwiches my sister and I make!"

She laughs at that. She barely spares a thought to it before clothes appear for them. Grabbing her own, she climbs out of bed and starts getting dressed, though she almost immediately picks up on the fact that Kazuto is simply watching her rather than putting his own clothes on.

When she glances over her shoulder at him with a bemused smile he just grins and shrugs, "Nothing wrong with admiring my mate. Actually I wouldn't minded if you'd just forgotten about the clothes altogether."

She rolls her eyes with a laugh, "Hmm. I wouldn't have minded either, _except_ we are supposed to start working on your Occlumency in a bit, and I'm fairly confident in saying that we wouldn't get much work done without the clothes."

His grin widens, "Fair point."

She shakes her head at him, still grinning, then finishes getting dressed. Only once she's finished does Kazuto bother to get out of bed and start putting on his own clothes. Returning the favor, she unabashedly watches him as he had her. Clearly picking up on it, he shoots her an amused look over his shoulder as he's buttoning his jeans, but she just grins at him then makes a show of checking him out.

It draws a laugh from him briefly before he shakes his head lightly, "If there's one thing you should've learned by now it's that there isn't much to see here."

She doesn't bother responding to that verbally. Personally she thought there was plenty to see. She wasn't one of those kinds of girls that was into buff guys, there wasn't anything wrong with them in general, but it really just wasn't her cup of tea. No, he could make as many comments mentally and verbally about how 'pitiful' his body was as he wanted, but while she certainly wouldn't mind if he toned a bit, she quite liked her mate as he was. She sees her mate blush a bit in reaction to where her thoughts were going. Though, the toned thing was definitely going to happen, given that she could guarantee that now that they were bonded, it wouldn't be long until her grandpa forged her mate a Nephilim blade and her family began running him through training to make sure he could at least fend off a demon attack, even if he choose not to go into her family's profession.

Now finished getting dressed, Kazuto turns to look at her with a weary look, "I kinda figured they'd want to make sure I at the very least wasn't a burden in demons decided to attack, but this is going to be rough, isn't it?"

She grins lightly as she grabs his hand and begins leading him through the house, "Considering most of the males in my family don't like you all that much because I'm their baby girl and you're their baby girl's boyfriend, now technically husband in the eyes of the magical governments since we're a fully bonded couple? Yes, it's probably going to be _very_ rough." She sees him pale slightly, "Aww, don't worry! They won't cause permanent damage or kill you! Since you're my mate, doing so would hurt me as well in some way, and they'd never hurt me like that! Not to mention, my mom, my grandma, and I especially wouldn't let them do anything to bad to you."

He lets out a breath slowly, "Gee, thanks for the reassurance."

Her grin widens, "Your welcome."

She can't help but giggling at the weird mixture of dread, resignation, and exasperated fondness that's put together with a look of fake betrayal he's giving her, "Not even bonded for a full day and you're already throwing me to the wolves. I see how it is."

She gives a fake nonchalant shrug as she leads him into the kitchen, "Gotta prove you can handle me and my family somehow. Figure I'll just throw you in the deep end with the sharks and see how it works out."

He laughs lightly as he tugs her around to wrap his arms around her and press a kiss to her lips, "I suppose it's a good thing I already know how to swim then, huh? I'll just have to figure out how to keep myself from being torn to shreds by sharks."

She grins lightly at him, "A shame we both know I wouldn't let someone as cute as you bite the dust. I'd like to see you try and get away with punching a shark, or my dad and uncle for that matter."

He chuckles lightly, then tilts her head, "Onto another matter though… Why on earth do you have a kitchen in your mind?"

She laughs lightly as she pulls away to go over to one of the bookshelves in the room, "Technically speaking, it's not actually a kitchen. It _looks_ like a kitchen, and there's food stored in here, but a kitchen is in essence a place where you can cook food, and you don't cook food here. I built this house on my nexus point almost a month ago, and when I added the kitchen I made copies of the memories of everything I've ever eaten and put them here. Anything that didn't need to be cooked, like that bowl of fruit on the counter, I just manifested it as it looked. Everything else is in these books."

He frowns at her lightly as she makes her way over with a book from the shelf, "Ok, I can understand that, but it's just passages in a book, how does that translate to having the meals you've eaten on hand in your mind, like the bowl of fruit, and why do it anyway?"

She grins at him, but doesn't answer his question as she sets the book down and taps the page, "This is the most delicious cake my mom's ever made, but something went wonky along the line and she doesn't know what it was so she's never been able to replace it."

She picks up a wooden box without a bottom by the little knob at the top, then places it on to of the book. A second later she picks it back up and moves it to it's original spot before lifting up the dish the cake is on so that she can pull the book out from under it and move it off to the side, where it now shows nothing but an empty page.

Grabbing a couple plates and forks, she serves them both a slice. Grinning at her mate's baffled look as she hands him his slice, "Technically, if you can imagine it, then in your mind it's possible. Like for instance, imaging that gravity doesn't apply to you in the conventional sense in your mind."

And with that, she pulls her legs up and crosses them comfortably, grinning at the way Kazuto is gaping at her, "As for why… Well, first of all, a kitchen without food isn't really a kitchen. It's just another room. As for why eat food in your mind, like I said earlier, it works like Aincrad did. Which is to say via the placebo effect. When you eat in a virtual reality or in your mind, you're subconsciously convincing yourself that you've actually eaten, so the brain stops sending that signal telling you you're hungry. One use you can make of this is for things like now, where we're going to be working on Occlumency in a bit, which is something you can't do while distracted by things like being hungry. You can't physically wake up and eat, so here we are, convincing your brain that you've eaten. The plus side to both eating in your mind and virtual reality is that it's one of those things that _knowing_ you're using placebo effect doesn't actually stop it from working."

She eats a large bite of cake before continuing, "There's other uses for it as well though. The most common being if you're trying to eat healthy. It's one thing to tell yourself you're not going to eat that slice of cake or those cookies or chips, it's another to actually _do_ it. However, if you eat just _one_ of those slices of cake or cookies or chips, you'll have the memory of it and if you have even a bit of Occlumency training, _then_ you can pop into your mind and enjoy it as much as you want without having to worry about actually _eating_ those things except for that one time to get the memory."

She eats the last bite, "And even better, no matter how much you eat it, you can't _actually_ devour a memory. Have you ever heard how every time you remember something, you subconsciously change it just a little bit? Changing the wording slightly, or making an embarrassing situation a little less so? Thinking of what you _should've_ said so many times that you start remembering it that way? Well, it's not actually possible to alter a memory. There are charms that are described to do so, but they actually just do the exact same you do when you change your memories yourself by playing them over and over. Namely, you make a _copy_ that you apply changes to and bury the original. Occlumency practitioners don't have this luxury though. Since part of the process is examining memories _exactly_ as they really were and sorting them, you're not capable of deluding yourself about how things happened. There are plus sides to this though. One being that anyone who's finished going through and sorting their memories knows _immediately_ if their memory has been tampered with. The other…"

She cuts off a piece of her slice of cake with her fork and pops it on her mouth, grinning as her mate's eyes dart between her cake slice and the rest of it, which is no longer missing the two slices she'd severed them, "You can't _actually_ devour the memory of food. It'll always be there, exactly as you remember it in every detail, even those your subconscious might have filtered out that you at the time perceived as unimportant. It's also why Occlumency users make some of the best witnesses to crimes law enforcement could ever hope for. All they really need is a couple seconds to dip into their mind and dredge up the memory, and they can tell you _exactly_ what was going on, even things they weren't consciously aware of at the time. Of course, this also has a downside, if they're a victim of some crime, they'll never be able to forget it or even bury the memory, of course that's true of really any terrible thing that happens to a practitioner of Occlumency."

Kazuto bites his lip, "Like the Laughing Coffin raid…"

She nods solemnly, "Yes. That is a downside to Occlumency. It'll stay with you, exactly as it was, for the rest of your life. That doesn't mean you can't move past it of course, but you'll always remember."

He takes a bite of his third slice of cake chewing it slowly as he thinks that over, and for the first time since she entered his mind more than twelve hours ago, she purposely puts a mental barrier up to give him some room to think that over without having her reactions to his thoughts distracting him.

After a few minutes he leans against the corner of the counter with one arm and smiles lightly as he brushes some of her bangs behind her ear before cupping her face, "I'm not exactly looking forward to always remembering that in crystal clarity, but that applies to _all_ my memories, right? I have a _lot_ of memories of you and I, along with Yui and our friends and families, that I certainly wouldn't mind remembering so sharply for the rest of my life. The good memories, along with being able to protect myself and _you_ , are more than enough to make it worth it."

She blushes lightly, then clears her throat, "Well, then, if you're full we should move over to your mind and get started."

He nods, so she grabs the now empty and clean plates and forks and is about to put them away when she realizes she's being stared at and smiles warmly, "Oh, Eryx. Did you want some?"

Kazuto whips around and stares in pure confusion at her mostly silent gauntlets, who simply nod in answer to her question. Cutting off a slice and putting it on one of the plates, she places it and one of the forks in front of her as she settles into one of the chairs on that side of the counter.

Glancing at Kazuto as she puts the cake back into the book and moves to put it back on the shelf she realizes she should probably explain so he doesn't start thinking she's actually crazy, "This is Eryx. You remember that axe I was using when that Harpy demon attacked? That was actually Arbiter, but they're both part of my Nephilim blade. They were originally just semi-sentient for the first ten years I had then but when I summoned Shuraba, the Falcata, to me when I was trying to protect you from Kuradeel and later Heathcliff…" She shrugs, "Something happened to them. We're not exactly sure _what_ , but it made them fully sentient. Not that I'm complaining. I do need to get around to asking Grandma about it though… With everything going on recently, I keep forgetting…"

He nods slowly in understanding, still staring at Eryx, faintly he says to her, "I'll try and remind you later…" Then he shakes his head, "Err… I suppose you already know this, but it's only right to properly introduce yourself, so… I'm Kazuto, nice to meet you."

Eryx looks up from her cake briefly enough to give him a polite nod of greeting, but she knows her gauntlets would feel that her explanation would be more that enough of an introduction. Sure enough, once she's done nodding at him she turns her attention back to her cake.

Kazuto gives her a questioning look, clearly wondering if he'd done something wrong, but she quickly lowers the barrier she'd almost forgotten she'd put up while he was thinking earlier, immediately reassuring him without words before adding an explanation, "Eryx isn't very talkative. So she just feels that my earlier explanation suffices as a polite introduction on her part, and that pausing her eating to actually look at you while she nods politely in greeting is enough of a polite response. Come on though, we should move over to your mind and get started."

He relaxes, then nods, following her without hesitation, "Yea, I know. I was kinda hoping to see more of your mind though. It seems a lot bigger than mine. Especially since you called that bed the nexus point of _my_ mind, but this _entire_ house is built upon yours."

She looks back at him and smiles in bemusement, "Well, considering you're just starting out, your mind probably won't be able to handle more than two hours at a time at which point we'll need to let it rest for a minimum of six before you can work on it more. As you gain more experience and your mind becomes accustomed to it, you'll be able to stay there and/or work on it for longer periods of time before eventually you'll be able to be in there as long as you want. That's later though, for now it'll be two hours of work followed by six hours of rest before we can head back again. So we'll have plenty of time for you to explore later if you really want to."

Opening the door to the set of rooms that is her connection to Kazuto, she waits by it to close it behind him, then leads him over to one of the two doors on either side of the bed. Just as she's about to open one, she realizes Kazuto is staring out the large window above it. He hadn't so much as given it a glance when they'd woken up, but now he was staring out the window overlooking her brothers Quidditch pitch and the rows upon rows of massive shelves between it and the looming monolith eating up almost the entirety of the horizon that was her connection to Pandora's box.

He slowly closes his gaping mouth, "... Definitely bigger than my mind."

She smiles lightly, "It only seems that way because everything that's _you_ is stored digitally." He gives her a disbelieving look, and she sighs, "Let me put it this way. You were born October 7th, 2008, and it's now February 19th, 2025. If you count today as well that's… 5980 days you've been alive. I was born July 31st, 2008, which would give me… 6048 days of life. Considering my Quicksilver ability, you could stretch that to be an even larger number of days, but that's not actually important right now. 6048 days, and unlike you and you digital mind, as a bookworm I see thoughts and emotions and all that as the written word. So right off the bat, you have to give me enough books to sort that all into. Normally, each book in my mind only actually contains 1-5 snippets of memory, but let's just say that wasn't the case and that I sorted it by day. Right off the bat I've already got 6048 books of memories. It doesn't stop there though. Then you have to start adding in the information I learned during those days because it's _entirely_ different to have a memory of attending school and the knowledge of what you actually learned that day. Everything I've ever read, be it a recreation books, scholastic books, or even things I read online on posts and forums or comments, every story I've heard, every movie I've watched. Every class I ever took, every skill I learned from walking and talking when I was an infant to fighting, and Crafting Wards, Rituals, and Spells."

She looks out the window, "And it just keeps going too. Everything I've ever tasted, everything I've smelled, every sound that's ever reached my ears. All those things that _fill_ the memories of those days are in and of themselves knowledge to be absorbed as well. So… No. My mind isn't really larger than yours." She grins lightly at him, "You just use higher more compact tech than my paper and ink."


	39. Training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I'm sure you guys noticed, this chapter was nearly late. Last week I said it was a good opportunity to get ahead, and I am glad I chose to cut the chapter, because life got in the way and without that half chapter head start you guys wouldn't get a chapter at all this week, even if it is a few minutes late, but with how hectic my week's been, I'm not going to let a couple minutes get to me.

 

* * *

February 19th, 2025

Her mate continues to stare out the window as he contemplates all the information she'd given him on just how much was in his mind, "... I've got a lot of work ahead of me, don't I? How am I supposed to even begin to make a dent in two hours, hell even if I had two weeks!"

She laughs lightly, "It's a lot to go through, but thankfully reviewing it doesn't actually happen in real time. For instance, if _you_ are reviewing a memory in your _own_ mind and that memory was of, say, an hour long game you once played, it won't actually take an hour. It's not the same for others though, though it still isn't _usually_ a one to one by the second equivalent, it does take far longer to go through someone else's memories, barring a few exceptions, like if the memory is particularly emotionally charged. If you think emotions can make things monstrously complicated in your day to day life, just wait until you see what they can do to your mind, memories, and Occlumency. Mind you while I _know_ your own morals would stop you from doing so without good reason, I feel like now would be a good time to mention that even _entering_ someone's mind without permission, much less going through it is _**highly**_ illegal. It's _international_ law too, which means every country in the magical world is required to follow it or they could get in _major_ fucking trouble."

He frowns, "In what way? Like war or something?"

She gives a bitter laugh, "They _wish_ it was just the threat of being attacked by other countries. Here's the thing, the International Confederation of Wizards, a rough magical equivalent to the United Nations, was founded in 1687(1) in response to the witch hunts. After five years of attempting different approaches to the problem, they eventually signed the Statute of Secrecy in 1692. Here's the thing though, they made and signed it as a _magical contract_. Magical contracts are usually merely given between a small number of people, usually just two actually, and they're usually given verbally. Normally in a magical contact, you state your name, whatever you're vowing to do, be it anything from keeping someone's secret to a Healer taking their Hippocratic Oath, then verbalize what you will lose if you knowingly and willingly break your oath, for instance with Healers it's their magic itself on the line, then all parties seal it in the eyes of magic with 'So Mote It Be'. Or at least, that's the standard _today_."

She takes a deep breath, then pulls him over to sit down on the bed with her, knowing it'll be a bit longer before they head over to his mind, " _However_ though there had certainly been cases of people not naming what they were putting on the line and misfortune falling upon them for breaking their contract anyway, the International Confederation of Wizards _didn't name a price_. They basically just wrote out that the people signing the Statute of Secrecy were not only representatives chosen by their governments and therefore had the power to make decisions for them, but that by signing the Statute of Secrecy they were swearing that their entire government would do everything in their power to uphold that law. The problem with not naming a price to breaking a magical contract, is that magic itself will decide what your punishment should be."

She bites her lip, "To be honest, considering _any_ government is prone to corruption, no matter how upstanding and respectable the country as a whole is, it's honestly almost a miracle that it took so long for someone to ignore their duty to the Statute of Secrecy and just do what they wanted, but in 1887 that's exactly what happened. There was this man in China, a huge business owner, that had been careless in how his business operated, before they realized it was his fault, he'd managed to reveal the magical world to over _twenty thousand_ non-magicals that subsequently had to have the memories of the witnesses and anyone they'd managed to tell altered. The problem was, China is a _big_ country, so on the magical side of things there was just one person judging the crimes of whatever area they were given, and he was very good friends with the man who _should've_ been his judge. So when they finally did realize it was him, a little bit of money to his old friend had all the charges dropped and the evidence destroyed."

She grimaces, "Of course, magic did _not_ like that that judge, a local representative of the government by nature of his very job, had knowing and willfully broken the contract to uphold the Statute of Secrecy, leading to an additional fifteen thousand non-magicals finding out the truth in the time between the judge breaking the contract and magic's punishment. And in September of 1887, it very much punished the people of China because those _two_ men uncaringly broke the Statute of Secrecy, with the Yellow River Flood(2). It claimed the lives of an estimated _nine hundred thousand_ people. Innocent people that had nothing to do with what those men had done."

She sighs tiredly, "Magic… It isn't a sentient thing. Semi-sentient, sure, but it isn't fully sentient. Because of this, it can sometimes seem cruel, what it deems fair being anything but. All it saw... was that a representative of China's magical government had knowingly and willingly allowed a man to get away with breaking the Statute of Secrecy more than thirty-five thousand times. It didn't see that only that one judge and the man who actually broke the law knew, and it didn't see those people as innocent, because while both the man who signed the Statute of Secrecy and the judge were representatives of the government, what is a government, but a representation of its people? Sure, that government is sometimes unwillingly followed or even outright fought, but unwilling or not, if you belong to that government then in the eyes of magic, _you_ are just as responsible for your government as they are of you. Which, when there's a magical contract in play like the Statute of Secrecy, is wholly and utterly."

She gives him a solemn look, "As terrible as the disastrous flood was though, we're lucky that a clause was added earlier that basically boiled down to 'While the International Confederation of Wizards as a whole will uphold the Statute of Secrecy, it's up to each individual country to deal with everything in their borders as they see fit', otherwise, the whole damned _**world**_ would've suffered for the actions of those two men. However, it also meant that _individuals_ could break the Statute of Secrecy, but if their government caught them they had to be properly prosecuted by their laws. Which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the circumstances."

She tilts her head thoughtfully, "The only reason that the immediate non-magical family members of magicals are allowed to be told is because of another clause basically states that if magic directly pertains to their lives in a permanent or semi-permanent way, like for instance having a immediate family member or if they're in danger, then they may be told. Which is why my family basically has an international free pass. We _respect_ the idea of the Statute of Secrecy, which is why we loosely follow it, but we also don't really try that hard to hide the existence of demons from people seeing as _everyone_ is in constant danger from them. And again, that also why we can get away with it, because demons fall into the category of magicals, so _technically_ speaking, you _could_ tell just about anyone about magic if it's in the frame of warning then about demons, or any other such that for that matter. Well, that's part of the reason anyway, the other being that while we've made America and Japan our home, we aren't _technically_ citizens in _any_ country. Not that anyone is going to make any sort of deal about it, big or small, seeing as the specific way it was done it allows us to do our job freely, side stepping any borders or political agenda or anything of the sort."

He looks at her incredulously, "How on _earth_ can you not be a citizen of _any_ country?!"

She grins, "Up until about eight years ago, we actually _were_ citizens of the US, however that could make our job difficult. While it's not technically possible, especially for someone like my dad, due to relations between countries, being a citizen of the US could make it rather hard to get into some counties. Considering we don't really give a damn about what the political climate between countries is, and since there are are a lot of people in every non-magical governments that are informed of magic so that they can do their job right, including the United Nations representatives, my dad started pushing for both the United Nations and the International Confederation of Wizards to make it so that Demon Hunters, like ourselves, could travel and therefore do their jobs freely. Eventually they made the ruling that anyone who is a registered Demon Hunter is no longer a tied to any country, and registration was automatically given to anyone that was on record to have taken a Demon Hunting contract for any government within the previous year, whereas anyone can apply for it so long as they have proof of taking and completing a minimum of whether five smaller Demon Hunting contracts, even if they were just between the Hunter and a single client, or one large government contract but either had to be within a year prior to application. Once registered, a Demon Hunter needs to either continue to produce the five smaller or one larger a year, _or_ they need to be hired by a Demon Hunting business that completes a certain number of contracts a year, with the number being based on how many Demon Hunters they have on their payroll. Otherwise, they're automatically re-absorbed as a citizen of whatever country they were last registered with. Other than the fact immediate family of Demon Hunters are given the same liberties as their officially registered family members, it's how I'm still not considered a US citizen even though I haven't completed a contract since before Aincrad. Because technically speaking, Devil May Cry may be my dad's business, but I _am_ registered as on its payroll."

She sighs, "Of course, it took more than that to give us the travel freedom we need, like legally issued passports from basically every country in the world, and they've got to cover for us, so that should we say, get questioned by local law enforcement we don't get arrested because we're not registered anywhere, but technically speaking, even if we're registered in various ways in various countries, some even putting us down _as_ citizens, we really aren't. If we actually _do_ break any laws and the charges don't end up getting dropped, we have to answer to the United Nations or the International Confederation of Wizards. Not that that's happened even once since they pushed it through."

He nods slowly in thought before something seems to occur to him, "Hold on a second. That book said fully bonding is legally acknowledged as a form of marriage by the government." She nods to indicate it's true, "And immediate family is defined as your spouse, parents and grandparents, children and grandchildren, siblings, mother and father in law, sibling in laws, children in laws, adopted, half, and step family, right? So than, technically speaking, doesn't that mean-"

She nods, "That as soon as we bounded you _technically_ ceased to be a citizen of Japan. Don't worry though, they'll probably just make a notation that will tell anyone that knows about magical that you really _aren't_ a citizen, but otherwise leave the file on your citizenship as is. So it's not going to cause any problems."

He nods slowly, "That's a relief." He's silent for a moment, just staring at the floor, "... It's actually really weird, you know? I was born and raised here, and the only time I've ever even given a thought to possibly moving to another country was after we got together, since you're, or at least I _thought_ that you were American. So to just suddenly _not_ be a citizen of Japan anymore… Don't get me wrong, it's not _bad_ , just… Strange…"

She nods in understanding, then smiles at him as she stands up, "Well! That's enough of that. We had something we were supposed to be doing."

She extends her hand to him. As soon as it enters his vision he lifts his gaze to look at her and immediately returns her smile as he reaches up to take her hand, "Right. Let's go then."

Leading him over to the door he glances out the window again and finally seems to notice the balcony outside and his brow furrows, "Why are you taking me out to the balcony? Shouldn't we be going over to my mind?"

She grins teasingly, "Why do you think I'm taking you out there? To push you off of course." He rolls his eyes, but does look a bit amused by her joke, "Just kidding of course. I'd never push you off a balcony. Actually, only the door on the _other_ side of the bed leads to the balcony, and only if you want it to." He gives her an absolutely blank look, but she can feel his waves of confusion and bafflement and she can't stop her grin from widening even if she wants to, "How many times do I have to say it. This is a _mindscape_ if you can imagine it in your mind, it's easily possible."

And with that she opens the door and pulls him through, not stepping onto the balcony, but out of a door neither had seen from Kazuto's side of the room in his mind because it was located on one the back of one of the free standing bookshelves on her side. He once again gives her, and the bookshelf, that blank look and she can't help but giggle, "Admittedly, while what I've been saying about anything you can imagine being possible in your mind, I _have_ been told that my mind, and therefore this part of your mind since it's also mine, can be a very strange place. Because my brother is my twin, we also have a telepathic connection, but apparently for _him_ stepping from his mind to mine _isn't_ like the door we just went to, but rather gravity seems to shift ninety degrees and he falls-slash-steps through a mirror with the viscosity of syrup, only without any sort of liquid actually clinging to him, and then the shimmering mirror like object puddles and evaporates. To be honest, I think the only reason it's a regular _door_ that leads between our minds is because of you. The balcony to bookshelf thing is definitely me though."

He shakes his head in bemusement, then lets her tug him over to his nexus point and settle on the edge of the bed, "First things first, let's get you some basic defenses."

He glances at her, then frowns, "This is probably going to take the whole two hours isn't it?" She nods, more than a bit confused. Picking up on it he shakes his head, "To be honest, while it _is_ my mind, I really don't have any idea how things are supposed to function like yours does, where you can actually experience anything again. I mean, it's gotta just be lines of text or images, so the only thing I can think of is if I somehow had some sort of super 3D printer that didn't need any materials to work with to recreate something from my memories."

They're both startled by a bang, and looking over they see that a sizable machine seems to have just dropped out of nowhere. She shrugs at the look he gives her, "Nexus point. There's a reason I brought you here to start on basic defenses."

Kazuto looks unsure, "Err… Ok? Handy I guess, but not what I was getting at. What I was _trying_ to say was that I was planning on changing it from everything being stored on regular computers to being stored on a server in the form of a VR. Well, not technically VR since it's all in my head, but I'm sure you get what I'm saying. If the mystical 3D printer is any indication, it'd work even if I don't know _all_ the ins and outs of how to make a VR irl, which is the only thing I was worried about."

He's barely finished talking before servers appear around the room at the same time the computers disappear, even as that happens, two AmuSpheres appear on either side of the table. Kazuto twitches slightly, but she just smiles widely, "Actually, that works as a _great_ first line of defense as well. I doubt there's many people that could hack into something as complicated as a VR system, which they'd have to do to get inside. Actually, considering the fact magicals are so vastly outnumbered by non-magicals that we only make up about three percent of the total population, and _yes_ that's _including_ _**all**_ magical beings though not the magical beasts and creatures. With the current global population at eight point one billion(3), that means the global _magical_ population is two hundred and forty three million. While there are plenty of people who never report learning Legilimency because while it's not illegal to know it's illegal to use it on anyone without permission, it's estimated that there are only about three times the registered number of people that know it in total. Even with that though, that still leaves the estimate at only twenty-eight percent of the magical population, or roughly… sixty-eight million."

His mouth is gaping again, this time she gets the vague idea from him that it's partially due to how low the magical population is, and partially due to just how _many_ people there are in the world that can legitimately read minds, "Now, plenty of these people that don't register are _mostly_ good people who are just nervous at basically telling the government that they know _how_ to do that thing that's illegal to do without permission, and I say mostly, because most of these people _do_ read people's minds without permission, but they just use it for things like telling if the person they're talking is actually into the conversation or if their significant other is cheating. Small stuff. Still illegal and unethical, but they generally don't mean any harm by it."

She sighs, "That _said_ there are also plenty of people who will try to use it to take advantage of you. They often use it to dig up blackmail, credit card and bank account information, or to find out things like when your house will be empty so they can rob you blind without worry. Now admittedly, there's a pattern amongst criminals of this nature, they're known to prefer non-magical targets that can't protect themselves. Because of that there are plenty of them that _absolutely_ don't know how to handle a defended mind and what to do when they happen across someone they _thought_ was a non-magical but turns out not to be. Don't think they're harmless just because they can't get past your defenses though. Like I've said multiple times, using Legilimency on someone without permission is _highly_ illegal. Criminals of this nature that accidentally stumble across a magical tend to attack, usually in the hopes of killing their victims so that they can't report them."

She smiles bitterly, "After all, anyone who's in the process of learning or an active practitioner could _easily_ describe or identify them, seeing as you have to make eye contact and therefore they know _exactly_ who was trying to illegally enter their mind." Then she sighs, "And while all this is important and you _definitely_ need to know it, it wasn't my point. My _point_ was that with roughly sixty-eight million practitioners of Legilimency on the planet combined with how _monstrously_ complex a VR is, it's _highly_ unlikely anyone would be able to break past that defense. Not that you should leave it as your only one. Better safe than sorry, yea?"

He nods absently, clearly thinking about what she'd told him. She gives him a bit of time, but after a few minutes, clears her throat and gestures to the AmuSpheres once she has his attention, "That said, I believe I explained earlier about being unable to move nexus points and how they could be a target of attack?" He nods lightly, "I realize you probably didn't give any actual thought to it, seeing as they just appeared right after you finished explaining your idea, but what I'm getting at is that your nexus point should be inside your VR defense, not part of the hub to get inside."

He tilts his head, his eyes narrowing in concentration. After a few moments, the servers and everything barring the bed and her side of the room disappear. She can't help but smile slightly when she realizes they're now inside their house in Aincrad, though their bed had been replaced by the one that served as his nexus point and the wall that their window looking outside had been had disappeared in favor of expanding the room to fit that piece of his mind that was _hers_. It was a bit of a pity actually. The window had a wide window seat that she'd quite enjoyed curling up on with Kirito and a blanket.

Her mate turns a warm smile towards her clearly having picked up on the thought. Then his brow furrows, and he gestures towards her area, "Can I… Or do you have to?"

She smiles at him, "Either actually. That's one of those things about being fully bonded. We have the same level of ability to change each other's mind to our liking, no matter _who's_ mind we're in. Of course all couples have their own ground rules, but for me, I'm quite happy to let you change either my mindscape or that piece of yours that's mine to your heart's content, so long as you don't outright get rid of or break anything. It's actually one of the only times I know of that you don't need explicit permission to enter someone's mind, given how closely their minds are tied together already and that between soulmates it's always a yes when it comes to deepening the connection in any way, no matter how temporary."

He nods in acceptance, then pauses, "I feel the same you know. About what you were saying earlier. You're more than welcome to change whatever you want, barring the same restrictions you set."

She smiles, then leans over to press a kiss to his cheek. He grins at her briefly before turning his attention back to her area and narrowing his eyes again. Technically, now that she had Kazuto's permission, she could change it to include that window she'd liked herself, but she was curious as to exactly what changes he'd make and content to let him get the hang of altering his mindscape.

It's unsurprising that the first thing he does is get rid of the bed, that was only there because of him anyway, on her side and use the wall space for her window. They didn't need two beds and while it may have been perfectly reasonable before they got together, but now the idea of sleeping in separate beds just made them both feel uncomfortable, and it felt ridiculously formal as well. Some of their wall space in their old room _had_ been taken up, but mostly it was just from the bed and bedside tables being pushed up against it. So it's also unsurprising that he unknowingly mimics her on bringing the nexus point and connection closer together by moving all of her decorations and bookshelves barring the freestanding ones to be along the walls of their room from Aincrad.

Next, he moves the door from the back of the bookshelf to the wall. She pouts a bit at that, so he smiles at her and moves it over next to the window, though he's clearly just humoring her. It does settle her though. Door that should go outside but leads to somewhere else entirely may not be original, it was how it was on her side as well, but at least it no longer looked like it was leading into the rest of the house. With the door dealt with the free standing ones move to bracket their nightstands. As the final touch, the entire room shrinks until there's still a bit of room along the walls for later decorations, but most of it is taken up by her stuff.

She smiles lightly, then stands up and stretches, "Well. I think the VR setup will suffice as your defences for now, so you should start going through your memories and figuring out how you want to sort everything. I'd help if I could, but you literally _have_ to go through your memories and sort them yourself. Sorry."

He smiles lightly, "No, it's alright. It makes total sense that I'd have to do that myself."

She grins at him, "You say it doesn't bother you now, and I even know you're telling the truth, but I don't think you realize just how much you'll have to go through. I'm almost certain that while the house is probably neat and tidy and _exactly_ how you remember it last, there's probably a _humongous_ pile of stuff outside. It's probably all at the front of the house, seeing as I don't see anything out the window and it looks over the backyard."

He gives her a bemused look, "I doubt it's _that_ bad."

She simply shrugs at his disbelief and offers him her hand. He accepts it without hesitation and lets her lead him towards the front door without protest. Once they're on the porch though, he stops in his tracks upon seeing the small mountain of stuff outside in the snow. He gapes for a few minutes, then faintly says, "You're right. I retract my previous level of how ok I am at doing this entirely by myself."

She laughs them pushes him towards it, "Still can't help you, whether you change your mind at how ok you are about it or not, and that pile isn't going to sort itself, so I suggest you get started, and while you're doing that I'll pop back up to the server room, send all the memories up there down here for sorting, tidy it up, and put up a couple more defenses.

He gives her a pitiful look, "You're so mean."

She shakes her head with a grin, "If it makes you feel better, the faster you get everything sorted, the sooner I can show you how to make the process automatic so that every second isn't adding more you'll need to sort later. And before you ask, no, I literally can't show you how to do that first because you have to have a sorting system already and you won't figure out how you want to do that until you get started, not to mention you have to accept every single memory's absolute truth, rather than continue to delude yourself about them, and you can't do that automatically to old memories. You can accept new memories in such a way automatically even if you don't necessarily _like_ that truth, like say for instance what happened with Laughing Coffin, but not old ones. It's why you have to view every single one of them."

He originally perks up at the idea of automatic sorting, then slumps slightly when she nips his hope at the bud. He slumps further, already looking defeated despite not having even actually started, when a significantly smaller figurine of the pile and a glowing orb pop into existence a foot above the pile then tumble down it before stopping about halfway down. They were undoubtedly representations of the memory of what just happened in general along with the knowledge on Occlumency he'd gained during their conversation specifically.

Then he musters up his determination and makes his way over to the pile, immediately pulling a little figurine of Pina of the pile. His eyes unfocus as he reviews the memory of what she's rather confident was their little mission to retrieve the Pneuma Flower with Silica.

She shakes her head as he emerges from the memory and moves away from the pile to place it on its own. Sorting the pile itself would certainly be a start and she really _did_ want to help but she just _**can't**_. All she can do to help is to use her experience with Occlumency to keep track of time so that he doesn't accidentally strain himself to much and to do exactly as she'd said she'd do while he's working on the pile.

Clearly picking up on it, her mate shoots her a smile and sends a wave of reassurance that despite their joking he really did understand along with appreciation for her willingness to help him with such a monstrous task if she could as well as for what help she _can_ give him. She smiles back at him, then waves her hand to pull up the logout menu so she can return to the server room. She had her own work to do.

* * *

February 22nd, 2025

She lingers in the doorway just watching her mate train for a few moments. He'd only just gotten his Nephilim blade forged and was slicing the air with deliberate slowness, trying to get his muscles used to both their newfound Nephilim abilities and the weight of the heavy dual straight swords that had unsurprisingly been its primary neutral form. Even less surprising was that it had taken the forms of Elucidator and Dark Repulser. That said, while he'd received plenty of training with them from her in Aincrad and his mind was accustomed to his beloved weapons, his muscles didn't have the same familiarity in wielding them. He'd also still need more training with them, seeing as she was one of the worst fighters in her family. She was roughly tied with her twin, but in his defense, he hadn't been at it long. With her, she was just _bad_ in comparison to her family. Good compared to anyone else, really good in fact, but when compared with _her_ family? Not so much. Mostly because while she _had_ made the discovery in VRs that she enjoyed a good fight, she was still more of a scholar than a fighter.

After a few minutes he sheaths the weapons and begins stretching. She slowly approaches him, causing him to glance at her with a small smile, "I was wondering if you'd just loiter around, or if you were gonna come over."

She shrugs, "I wasn't trying to hide my presence from you. I was just thinking."

Her mate tilts his head at her, "What about?"

She looks away, "You becoming a Demon Hunter. You don't have to you know. No one would've been upset if you chose not to. You actually surprised my family quite a bit when you decided you would."

Kazuto grins at her a bit, "But not you. You weren't surprised in the slightest, were you?"

She smiles a bit at that, "No. I may not know the reason why, but I had a feeling you would. That's... what I was wondering though. Your reason. I know that you usually feel like you have to help if you have the ability to, but you don't Kazuto. I know that the Nephilim abilities you gained with our bonding gives you the skills to be an amazing Demon Hunter, but that doesn't-"

He cuts her off, "That's not why." He pauses for a moment, briefly looking at the ground in thought, before returning his gaze to her, "Yes, it's true that I feel like those with the ability to help should do everything in their power, but that's not why I made this decision." Seeing that she was still confused he smiles at her. Stepping closer, he runs his fingers through her bangs, then trails them down until he was cupping her cheek, "Marzanna... You're my partner in more ways than one. I know you can take care of yourself, that you don't need protection, you're my beautiful badass after all, but I want to. I want to take care of you, to protect you. Like I said, you're my partner. I'm going to be there if you ever need me, no matter the circumstances."

She blushes lightly, then nuzzles the hand pressed to her cheek, "... Yea. You too. I'll always be there. I love you."

He kisses her briefly, then with his forehead pressed against her own murmurs quietly, "I love you too."

Outside the door Dante scowls at the ground while Kat and Trish grin at him. Trish chuckles, "You look like you're having daddy issues." He glares at her, but she just laughs at him, "You've tried your absolute hardest to hate that kid just because he's your little girl's boyfriend, but it's impossible isn't it? Especially after hearing all that. Can't hate a kid when he's devoted enough to literally follow your little girl into hell on a regular basis just to make sure she's safe."

Dante growls lowly, "Shut up..." He glares when Kat gave him an expecting look, but caves a few seconds later, "Alright, alright, enough already. I'll accept he's her mate and stop glaring at him, but that doesn't mean I have to like the brat."

* * *

March 1st, 2025

She gives her mate a hesitant look, "Are you sure about this?"

Kazuto sighs lightly, then smiles reassuringly, "Marzanna, we've been over this at least twenty times. Yes, I _am_ sure of this. You and your brother want to see each other, Hermione and I want to meet, and I want to see a purely wizard town. Yes, I'm fully aware that Britain isn't the best place to get my first look at wizarding culture, you've told me repeatedly about how behind the times they are, both by non-magical standards and the majority of magicals world wide, and there's also how prevalent the pureblood superiority belief is there, especially with the war. As I said though, along with the other reasons, if this is going to be my world from now on, I want to see all of it, the good _and_ the bad. I understand why you'd want to protect me, I've experienced how overprotective people get of their mates myself, but you know I'm not the type to pretend everything is perfect in the world."

It's her turn to sigh now. They had in fact gone over this multiple times, but it still didn't make her feel any better. She'd been exchanging a lot of letters with her brother since she woke up, and quite a few with Hermione since they'd met. Kazuto hadn't actually sent any letters of his own, but he knew her brother and he knew how close they were to each other. With that being said, being in similar positions of knowing both twins and being the significant other to one of them, it wasn't surprising in the slightest that Kazuto and Hermione had rather quickly reached a mutual desire to meet. However, _she_ hadn't wanted to get in the way of her brother and Hermione's new relationship and _Mike_ hadn't wanted to interfere with her and Kazuto's new bond. Hermione's solution had been a double date. Initially she'd been as enthusiastic as the others at the solution. However, since Kazuto also wanted to see a wizard town and the other two were still in school, their plans had quickly reached the next logical conclusion that they should meet in Hogsmeade. The SAO survivor school wasn't due to start until next month, so it made perfect sense for her and Kazuto to use an international portkey to Hogsmeade.

That was when she started having issues with this idea. While it was _technically_ impossible to tell by just looking that Kazuto was a Switch, the term used for someone who wasn't born with magic but gained it later, anyone who _did_ believe in blood purity would draw terrible conclusions purely due to Kazuto choosing to wear regular clothes rather than robes and the like. Of course, she was wearing regular clothes as well, but with her and Mike being twins, and basically identical as well, their relation was obvious, and with the Sparda's having officially claimed the title of being an Ancient and Royal family, it wouldn't be as much of an issue. Those who held those beliefs would certainly look down on her for her 'poor taste' and for being a 'muggle lover', but she was still pretty much a known factor at a glance. With Kazuto, he was obviously not related and Japanese to boot, a country which was known to care so little about blood purity that the only time it was brought up in any way was if it actually mattered. For instance, they only officially labeled non-magical borns as such in their files so that they could make sure that they were given a proper orientation to magic, or like with Kikouka informing them that he was a Squib so that they knew they could speak freely.

The point being that anyone who held even a tiny bit of the prejudices that plagued that country would think the absolute worst of her mate almost immediately. And while those who might want to wait for confirmation might give him the benefit of the doubt and possibly assume that he was merely of Japanese descent rather than actually from there, his accent and the fact he wasn't totally fluent in English would only add to the evidence against him. And all that was _before_ taking into account that it was an active war zone.

In her opinion her concerns were well founded, but Kazuto kept reassuring her that this was what he wanted. She _really_ needed to figure out if it was possible to rebuild her ability to say no to him because the number of things he'd been able to get her to agree to since bonding were frankly ridiculous. Though to be fair, he seemed to suffer the same problem since they'd bonded. He's not the one who was convinced to try frog legs just to prove a point about a certain incident in Aincrad though. It didn't matter if they hadn't actually tasted that bad, they were still gross. Thankfully, while she'd _known_ she'd inevitably give in, she _had_ been able to hold her ground long enough to get him to promise her not to make her try anything she thought was gross again.

Shaking off the wayward thought, she holds out the fist sized plastic disc that had been issued to them as their portkey, "Alright, alright. Ready to go then? The portkey is activated by a keyword so we can leave whenever you're ready "

For the first time since they started making these plans, her mate looks dubious. For a brief second she feels a flash of relief at the possibility that they might be able to cancel after all, along with the tiniest shred of guilt at her _lack_ of guilt at canceling on her brother and friend at the last minute. It's dispelled when her mate sighs, "I guess. Your mom told me that portkey travel is pretty uncomfortable though…"

She grimaces, "It is. Out of the three common ways of long distance travel amongst magicals however, portkeys are the most comfortable and have the most reliable possible distance you can go. Apparition is based off magical power and mental fortitude, so if you've got both of those in spades, you can technically go pretty damn far with it, but it feels like being squeezed through a tube that lacks air. Floo travel is the most limited and also the hardest to get used to, so I've honestly never seen much of a point to it. Portkeys though, they've already got the magic and destination in them, so it doesn't matter how much power or fortitude you've got. That said, it does feel like getting hooked behind your navel and dragged through the air at high speeds and you have to be careful about letting go soon enough or you'll find yourself being slammed into the ground."

Now it's her mate's turn to grimace, "Sounds… fun…." Then he gains a concerned look, "What happens if you let go too soon though?"

She hums, "Technically, you'd be thrown out someplace random between your departure and arrival destinations, despite the fact it's technically a form of teleportation, but the spell itself was tweaked almost as soon as it was made to include a variant of the sticking charm that makes it impossible to let go once it's been activated until you reach your destination."

He nods, then tilts his head in curiosity, "Oh. That's good then… Why plastic though? I've read those books on magical theory and I thought it wasn't very good as a magical conduit."

She shakes her head, "It isn't, but portkeys actually don't require enough magic for it to matter. It's just what they issue them as so they don't have to worry about anyone stealing it, which from my understanding was a problem back when they used metal discs. Actually, Mike told me that they used actual junk in the UK, like old soda cans or boots, but I'm not sure if I believe that."

His face scrunches up, "I sincerely hope he's just pulling your leg because otherwise that's completely unsanitary and a _massive_ health risk, more so for some items than others but still…"

She huffs, "You're telling me. I want to say it's why I'm _sure_ he's just messing with me, but considering the British Ministry of Magic as a whole seems to lack sense…." She shakes her head, "Anyway, we're going to be late if we procrastinate any more, so grab on."

He nods, then reaches out and takes hold of the portkey. After checking that they've both got a firm grip ago that they aren't thrown off the second the sticking charm deactivates she nods, "Alright, when I tell you to let go, do so immediately, I wasn't joking about slamming into the ground. After you do, be ready for a rough landing." Her mate nods, so with one last sigh at how stupid of an idea this was, she activates the portkey, with the standard location based keyword, "Japan to Hogsmeade."

Immediately she feels the tell tale hook behind her navel and her feet leave the ground as they're whisked away. There's the usual rush of color and the wind that makes it seem like they're floating in the eye of a tornado. Her mate grimaces and she gives him a smile tinged with discomfort.

A moment later she feels the charm release her hand and shouts at her mate to be heard over the wind, "Let go!"

She only waits a second to make sure he had before following her own advice. Landing harshly on her feet she sees her mate stumble a couple steps forward before he rights himself. Once he has, he takes a deep breath, "That… was even more unpleasant than I thought it'd be."

She grimaces at him, "Wait until you start learning how to apparate. It's not uncommon to throw up the first few times. Or splinch yourself."

Her mate gives her a weary look, "Do I even want to know what splinching is?"

She gives him a weary look, "Splinching occurs when a magical apparates unsuccessfully, usually due to insufficient determination, causing the magical to leave part of themselves behind. This can range from clothing and minor things, like some of your hair, to more serious things, like a limb. Thankfully, even if you _do_ leave a limb or something of that nature behind, it's merely a matter of the two pieces not quite leaving at the same time, so it'll only be a couple minutes before the missing part appears, and it's easy to fix splinching so long as you have a medical professional at hand, and classes or examinations for apparation _always_ have a medical professional on hand, just in case. And seeing as you'll be denied your apparation licence unless you can perform it perfectly, it's a perfectly safe method of travel. Assuming you aren't illegally apparating around without a license of course."

Her mate looks horrified, "Safe?! What the hell are any number of medical professionals supposed to do if I lose an organ?! Like, I don't know, my _**heart?!**_ What about if my head and body separate?"

She smiles lightly, "Hun, first of all, they're magical medical professionals, putting an organ back in is a hell of a lot easier for them than it is for non-magicals. In fact, when it comes to fixing splinchs, so long as you have a medical professional there's never any permanent damage, not even a scar. Second, it's impossible to leave an organ behind. Do you remember how I described how it felt earlier? The reason it feels like you're being squeezed through a tunnel is because your magic contracts in on itself. You grow subconsciously used to feeling it flow through your body freely, so when it all gathers into your head and chest and constricts like that it feels like you're being squeezed. The increased density of magic in those areas inadvertently protects your organs and keeps your head and body attached to one another."

That seems to have calmed him down considerably, but he still looks weary, "Oh… Still not sure if I want to risk even temporary loss of limb for that."

She tilts her head, "Alright, but I'll definitely be going for _my_ license. Apparation is _really_ useful, not to mention convenient." Seeing her mate still look unsure she gives a thoughtful hum before continuing, "You remember when I first woke up? When we were attacked by that harpy demon? The way my parents just popped in was via apparation."

Her mate tilts his head in thought, "Alright. I concede that it can be useful and that I should probably learn how to do it and get my license, but don't expect me to be particularly happy about it."

She laughs lightly, "Fair enough."

Her mate glances around, then frowns, "Where are we?"

She glances at the rundown shack her mate was staring at that she'd absently taken note of when they arrived, "No idea. Not really anyway. Supposedly the portkey was supposed to drop us off at someplace called the Shrieking Shack. Considering they don't want people just popping in on top of someone else though, it's probably just someplace just outside off Hogsmeade."

His frown deepens and grows tinged with worry, "... Are you sure we're in the right place?"

She turns to him, "Yes. While it _does_ rarely happen that you end up in the wrong place with a portkey, that's _always_ error on the part of the maker or distribution. However, since I can sense Mike and can tell that he's _really_ close by, we're definitely in the right spot."

Before her mate can reply her brother speaks up from behind them, "Right here actually."

They turn to see him and Hermione standing behind them, and Hermione smiles lightly at Kazuto, "To answer your earlier question, this is in fact the Shrieking Shack. It's _said_ to be the most haunted place in Britain, but in all actually the shrieking that used to be heard from the building was from a werewolf transforming. Since said werewolf was a student and this place was built before the invention of the Wolfsbane potion, he'd be brought here every full moon and locked inside so there wasn't worry of him hurting anyone. He's long since graduated though, and with the Wolfsbane potion having been invented, it hasn't seen use since. Still, the residents of Hogsmeade and the students of Hogwarts don't know all that, so it remains something of a tourist location because of its reputation, despite the famous shrieking not having been heard in sixteen years."

Her mate smiles lightly, "Hermione I presume?"

She smiles back and extends her hand to shake, "Of course. And you'd be Kazuto, it's nice to finally meet you."

Her mate grins, "You as well. I must admit, despite Marzanna being how she is, I've been looking forward to meeting someone else these two describe as a nerd."

She laughs, "I'm glad it wasn't just me then!"

He tilts his head, "So, if no one else knows all that about the Shrieking Shack, how do you?"

She grins lightly, "Because the werewolf in question is a pseudo uncle to Marzanna and Mike."

He grins lightly, "Ah, that would explain it."

She tilts her head, "We weren't late were we?"

Mike gives an aggravated sigh, "No, but we almost were."

She raises an eyebrow, "What happened?"

Her brother grimaces, "One of the Gryffindor fourth years tried to give me these chocolates spiked with love potion a while ago. I wasn't stupid enough to eat them considering how pushy she had been about them. I was busy though, so I just dropped them on my nightstand while I picked up the books I needed for mine and Hermione's study session. They fell onto the floor and ended up near Ron's bed. _Despite_ the fact the idiot didn't see them amongst his presents at all, because it's his birthday he assumed they were his when he found them near his bed. He started growing paranoid and eventually became violent when the other guys in my dorm were trying to convince him to go to the hospital wing."

He growls, "We ended up having to stun the idiot and send someone to get McGonagall. She tried to get onto me after we worked out what had happened. I eventually managed to shut her up when I pointed out that while I'd _suspected_ the chocolates were spiked, _she_ was the one that told us all that our houses were supposed to become like our family, and that I _should_ therefore be able to trust something given to me by a housemate, but by that point she'd kept me so long that Hermione and I had to nearly run the whole way just to get here in time. Even then, we only arrived just in time to see you guys portkey in. We would've spoken up sooner, but I wasn't joking about damn near running here, we were back a bit catching our breaths."

She smiles lightly at her brother, "That's quite alright, and hey, you might've had a bit of a bad day so far, but there's no reason to let that drag our double date down, yea?"

He grins lightly, "No, I suppose not. Well, come on then. We can start by giving you two a tour of Hogsmeade if you like."

Kazuto glances at her, then grins, "That sounds lovely. Lead on then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1): This admittedly might not be entirely accurate, but I can't remember if we're ever actually given a date in the books and the only thing I could find online was that it was 'before the 1690's'.
> 
> (2): I would just like to point out for those of you that don't know, that yes, the Yellow River Flood was a real event that happened. I am not in any way, shape, or form trying to make light of the subject. It was one of the biggest catastrophes in history. I fully acknowledge that. Especially since from what I was seeing 900,000 was the more conservative estimate to how many people died in the flood. However, I would like to point out that in fanfiction, or even just writing that takes place on earth in general people do use real life events in the stories. I mean, due to the Statute of Secrecy, many Harry Potter fics make mention of the Witch Hunts often, and while there isn't an exact number most historians think it was around 40,000 to 100,000 based on public records. About 12,000 executions have been confirmed in existing records. The Yellow River Flood was larger, killing an estimated 900,000 people, but I'm no more making light of it than any other writer is of the Witch Hunts.
> 
> (3): No, this is not a mistake on my part, I'm aware the global population is 7.6 billion. This is the official estimate from the United Nations of what the world population will be in 2025. Which is when the story takes place.


	40. A New Adventure Awaits

March 1st, 2025

After a brief but lovely tour of Hogsmeade wherein Marzanna finally realizes that Hermione and Mike had been speaking Japanese to her and Kazuto when they first portkeyed in and that through they were good they weren't quite fluent, which merely meant that they occasionally had to explain something in English so she could translate, they decide to head into The Three Broomsticks for a quick lunch.

Not even a minute after they walk in the entire room falls silent, staring at them with varying expressions of shock and disbelief. Her mate gives her a confused questioning look and she shrugs in response. She doesn't know why everyone's staring at them anymore than he does.

Mike expertly ignores it as he leads them up to the bar, and smiles warmly at the woman behind it, "Good afternoon Madam Rosmerta."

She smiles back unsurely, "Afternoon. Err, Mike dear… Did you uh… mess up some sort of spell?"

The way she glances at Marzanna at the end makes everything click and she barely resists twitching in annoyance. They didn't know Mike had a sister, which is why they were staring, and _apparently_ making conclusions about exactly _what_ she was. Mike stares for a moment in disbelief, then his lips twitch slightly, "No. This isn't the result of a faulty spell. This is my sister, Marzanna Sparda." After a moment he adds on, "Oh, and her soulmate, Kazuto Kirigaya."

If anything, the explanation just seems to dumbfound three crowd even more and Rosmerta blushes lightly in embarrassment, "Oh." She turns her gaze to her, "Sorry about that dear, I didn't know Mike had any siblings after the blood adoption."

She discretely elbows both Mike and Hermione, who both seem to be struggling not to laugh, "It's quite alright Madame. I'm Mike's only sibling though, for the time being anyway. Can't guarantee anything with our parents." Then she shrugs, "Soulmates will do whatever they please when it comes to one another though, so I can't really blame them."

The woman smiles warmly, seemingly at ease at her lack of offense at being assumed to be the result of a faulty spell, "I suppose you'd know if this young man here is yours." Then she shakes her head, "Goodness me, where's my manners! Can I get you kids anything?"

Hermione smiles, "Just some butterbeers and lunch. We'll just all take the special. We only have so much time and we'd like to be able to show Marzanna and Kazuto around with more than the bare basics tour we've given them."

Rosmerta beams, "Of close dears. Find yourselves a seat and I'll bring it out in a moment."

As her brother and Hermione lead them off to find somewhere to sit, she switches back to Japanese to quickly answer his question about the legality of them drinking butterbeer, "It _technically_ has an alcohol content, but it's so small that it's literally impossible for most species to get even buzzed from it. In fact the only species I know of that _can_ get drunk off it are house elves and fairies. In fact-"

She cuts herself off as a blonde man with green and silver trimmed robes furiously storms up to the table they'd taken residence at, "What in the name of Merlin do you think you're _doing_ Sparda?!"

Her brother raises an eyebrow calmly, "Waiting to eat lunch? Honestly, what's it _look_ like I'm doing Malfoy?"

The blonde, Malfoy, glares furiously, "That's not what I'm talking about and you damn well know it. I'm talking about bringing _him_. He's clearly one of those _disgusting_ _ **fakes**_. How _dare_ you bring him here?!"

Marzanna scowls, "The correct terminology is non-magical to magical Switch, or just Switch."

He sneers at her, "That disgusting _beast_ is **not** a magical, and you're equally as foul for mating with it."

At that, her, her brother, and Hermione all start to shoot up from their chairs. It was one thing to insult them, it was another entirely to insult someone's soulmate bond. Before they're even halfway to their feet however, Kazuto's arm slips around her waist and tugs her back into her seat. From the way their chairs slide forward a bit before they abruptly sit with a slightly unnatural movement, she's fairly certain her mate had hooked a foot into both her brother and Hermione's chairs and yanked them back towards the table until the edge of their seat forced them to sit.

Before any of them can ask him what he's doing they get their answer. In the form of Rosmerta pushing past Malfoy enough to round on the little cretin, " _How dare you!_ Insulting someone's bond like that, you should be _**ashamed**_ of yourself! Out!"

Malfoy gives her a dumbfounded look, "What?"

She scowls, "You heard me, get out of my pub!"

Malfoy glares, "You can't kick me out! I'm a Malfoy! You can't-"

Rosmerta growls, "Like hell I can't! This is _**my**_ pub and I don't care who you are! I've put up with you and your little friends nasty comments towards myself and my other customers for far too long, in fact, I should've kicked you all out years ago, but I ignored it. You've gone too far this time though Mr Malfoy, and I won't ignore this behaviour any longer! Get outta my pub and don't you _ever_ come back!"

Malfoy glares at her, then sticks his nose in the air and sniffs, "This dingy little pub isn't worthy of a Malfoy anyway. The only reason I've ever bothered coming here is because the only other options are Madam Puddifoot's and the Hog's Head."

With his parting shot Malfoy attempts to leave with as much dignity as he can muster. Doesn't have much luck with it though. Apparently just as fed up with his attitude as Rosmerta, a large portion of the pub sends little hexes at him. She sends only a tripping jinx to mess with his dignified nose in the air march, but he also gets hit with five different hair changing spells, one of which merely messes up his hair whereas the others combine to turn his hair a garish combination of obnoxiously bright orange, neon green, hot pink, and puke yellow. His clothes get a similar garish treatment, along with suffering a few Transfigurations, one of which gives all the edges ridiculously ugly frills, whereas another turns his pants into an ugly skirt, his shirt gets turned into a ugly hot pink _thing_ with a ridiculous amount of ruffles, ribbons, and lace and the words 'I'm an Uneducated, Racist, Troglodyte' written on the front courtesy of Hermione, and yet another turns his shoes into ballerina slippers. Someone else hits him with a spell that adds a tutu to go with his slippers, enticing someone else to conjure all sorts of ugly jewelry to go with it, including a tiara. As a final touch, someone causes his skin to break out in warts and pimples. All in all, by the time he rights himself from her tripping jinx he looks utterly ridiculous and is bright red in mortification.

Rosmerta had very purposely looked down at the tray she'd set on their table and slowly started putting their food in front of them when the hexes and jinxes started flying, but as soon as it's done she lifts her head to look at Malfoy, raising an eyebrow, "What are you still doing here? I told you to get out."

He gapes at her, "But-"

She huffs, "Out. Before I use a banishing spell."

He blanches, knowing he's lucky none of the spells had terrible reactions to each other but that at least _one_ would probably react to the banishing spell, then hurries out of the pub with gritted teeth. Inside the pub, everyone remains silent for a moment, listening as the crowd outside falls quiet briefly before erupting into uncontrollable laughter.

Rosmerta shakes her head lightly, then sweeps her gaze over the inhabitants of the pub with narrowed eyes, "I won't be putting up with any more nasty comments about blood purity in any way, nor will I protect you from being hexed in my pub for saying such things, so I'm telling you all now. If you've got such opinions, I suggest you keep them to yourself or take your business elsewhere, because as you just saw, there are _plenty_ of people who come here who will happily put you in your place if you can't keep your mouth shut."

She glares at a particular group of students who look distinctly uncomfortable and look like they want to protest, but apparently after the little show with Malfoy they're smart enough not to, as most of them simply give jerky nods, while the rest quietly get up and leave, though unlike Malfoy they're allowed to go peacefully. With a sharp nod of her own, she turns back around to collect her tray and smiles lightly at them, "Enjoy your meal dears."

Once she's left and conversation has started back up again, Kazuto turns a worried look back to them and asks in Japanese, "Was that really necessary? Seemed kinda like bullying to me…"

Hermione snorts, "Normally I'd agree with you, but Malfoy is the local bully. It might not be _right_ to respond by giving him a taste of his own medicine, it's definitely _satisfying_."

He nods lightly, not exactly in agreement, but in understanding. It doesn't take long for the lighthearted easy mood to return to both their table and The Three Broomsticks as a whole. So of course, it's as they're halfway through their lunch that Luna, a friend she'd seen in her brother's mind and memories many times, comes stumbling into The Three Broomsticks and over to their table, her entrance and appearance being pale as a vampire, clammy, and shaky halting all conversation almost instantly.

Her eyes are unfocused, but she manages to look vaguely in Mike's direction before rasping out, "Death Eaters are coming. Twenty-five minutes."

Gasps ring out at her proclamation and the way she faints immediately after. Marzanna, being closer, catches her before she can hit her head on the table then quickly but gently lowers her to the ground. As she does, she sees Rosmerta begin to hurry over with a worried expression, but ignores her to turn to her brother, "Mike… Didn't Grandmother identify Luna as a type of Seer?"

Her brother swallows thickly before answering in a shaky voice, "Yes. Her kind can rarely See more than an hour, as their gifts lie in Seeing the present and past for the most part. If she says Death Eaters are coming…"

Panicked whispers, quickly building in volume break out at that.

With a quick mental conversation with Mike, she comes to the conclusion that Hogwarts is too far away to evacuate fast enough, especially considering the Death Eaters could apparate, and while the evacuating students would have numbers, they'd be far more likely to scatter than bind together in the face of danger. Not without leadership, and that would be nearly impossible to accomplish in a huge untrained group on an open road. It would be better to stay here and break them into smaller more manageable groups. There also, _stupidly_ weren't any floos in Hogsmeade that Mike knew of, which meant no way to contact Aurors either.

Decision made in a fraction of a second, she quickly turns to Rosmerta, who it's now kneeling next to her, "Look after her?" The woman nods firmly, so she quickly leaves the young blonde in her care and jumps onto a table while firing off a firecracker spell, immediately silencing the crowd, "Listen up! We have less than five minutes before the village comes under attack. You will _**not**_ panic and flood the streets, thereby resulting in an even higher death rate in this attack. What you _**will**_ do, is listen to me." She'd always despised the sheep like nature of British wizards, but in this case it and the fame of the Sparda name worked in her favour. "First of all, Madame Rosmerta, from windows I saw I'm assuming there are rooms upstairs? Is there a back door? What about a basement? If your have one, how big and is there an outside entrance?"

Her respect for the woman shoots up considerably when the woman answers her without hesitation and takes her leadership without question despite the clear fear in her eyes, "Yes to all three, there are inn and private meeting rooms, but none of them are in use though, use them however you wish. The basement is rather large, and no, it doesn't have an entrance to outside."

She nods gratefully, "Then I suggest you take Luna to the basement, where I'll be sending non-combatants, Seeing what she did and forcing herself to stay conscious long enough to warn us undoubtedly took a toll on her." Rosmerta nods and levitates Luna's body, but before she can even move, Marzanna begins barking orders, "Anyone who's any good at defensive magic, spread out to cover the windows and both doors when I tell you, I doubt anyone here is skilled enough to cast the sort of spells to protect this place from strong blasting curses, so our best bet is to place the best at the windows so they can hopefully take out anyone who tries before they can, and to stop anyone that tries to physically enter. Kazuto, please go get a count of the rooms now, so we can figure out how to distribute everyone. I apologize Madame Rosmerta, but your furniture is likely going to take one hell of a beating as our cover and we'll have to invade your own room as well I'm afraid."

The other woman shrugs, then heads off with Luna, "Next, I need a few volunteers that are fast on their feet. We're the only ones with any warning, so we need people to get to the other shops to tell them to barricade themselves in along with warning everyone on the streets to get inside. Since she no doubt has every single shop in the village memorized, I'll leave distributing you to Hermione, go to her if you're volunteering. If you're not particularly good at fighting or quick on your feet, separate to the back of the building, fighters to the front towards the bar, I don't care if it becomes packed, I need space in the middle so the runners can go to Hermione. Hermione, step off to the side and place a silencing bubble so we aren't trying to talk over each other. I'd suggest waiting until you know how many people you have before sending anyone off so you know if you're short and can send a few of the fastest to multiple locations. Once your done, head over to the door and start sorting out combatants from noncombatants as they come in off the street from the runners' warnings."

Hermione nods, moving off to the side to deal with the twenty or so people that approach her with determined looks while the rest separate as told and Marzanna continues, "Those in the back of the building, you'll be barricading yourselves into the basement."

Taking a quick, if rough headcount of her willing combatants, she figures she has about forty people, a number that really shouldn't fit into the pub, especially since there are twenty runners and the numerous non-combatants, but it _was_ a magical establishment.

Thinking quickly, she makes her next decision, knowing that the loss of strength could result in their defeat, but keenly aware that the majority of those who'd moved to the back of the pub were terrified thirteen and fourteen year olds, "Fighters, I need four volunteers that are good at defense to follow the non-combatants into the basement and try their damnedest to defend them if the rest of us fall."

More than a few of her fighters blanch, knowing that to fall against Death Eaters would likely mean death, but to their credit, it also seems to rally up even more determination from them. Once she has her four, she sends them and the non-combatants off to join Rosmerta and the unconscious Luna in the basement, and begins ordering them to make barricades to use for cover while she waits for her mate to come back.

She doesn't have to wait long, she's barely gotten them started, gotten the more accurate headcount of forty-three fighters still in the room discluding herself, her brother, and Hermione who has just sent the runners off and moved over to man the door when he returns to briskly inform her in Japanese, "Four meeting/inn rooms on each of the two floors, Rosmerta's room upstairs, windows at the end of each hallway, and an attic, though it lacks any windows."

She shakes her head, "Doesn't matter if it doesn't have windows, if they have anyone on brooms a solid blasting spell will take the roof off. Exactly why we shouldn't put anyone in the room though. A pull down ladder I take it?" He nods quickly, and she hums, "Ten rooms to cover plus two hallways." She grimaces, "Not nearly enough people to cover everything well, but we'll have to work with what we've got." She thinks it over quickly, then turns to her twin and mate, "We can afford to put three to every room and hallway and still have ten down here, but the lower hallway isn't as vulnerable as the upper, which will need to have both the hallway window and attic door covered. Mike, nineteen upstarts and spread them out, three to each room, four to the hallway, and make sure to tell the ones in the hallway to keep an eye on the attic door. In fact, just take one from the window and assign them to keep an eye on it. Kazuto I know you know enough English for this at least, so take fourteen to distribute amongst the other downstairs rooms, two in the hallway, three each to the meeting/inn rooms."

Two of the of the most important men in her life, though for vastly different reasons, walk away from her to gather the number of fighters they each need, and she can't help but bite her lip harshly at the knowledge that they would probably follow her into combat very soon. After all, the defences she was setting up were unlikely to hold the Death Eaters off for long, perhaps not even long enough to wait for the Aurors to arrive and the other shops likely had even less of a chance, even with the forewarning. Which was why she had absolutely no intention of staying inside during the attack. The longer she could keep Death Eaters busy in the streets, the better the chances those in the shops had to hold out until reinforcements. She wasn't foolish enough to think she could convince either or them, or Hermione for that matter to stay inside.

She's pulled from her thoughts as Hermione approaches with a small group and a grim look, "Only eight minutes left, but the streets have already cleared. Only thirteen more willing to fight came in, the other twenty-two have already gone down to the basement. Where do you want them?"

She weighs her options briefly, then sighs, "Two stay here, two in the lower hallway, and one to each of the other rooms. Any more in the upper hallway will likely make to much confusion in such a narrow space to be with it."

The new fighters split off on their own, two joining those quickly adding what they can to the barricades before their time runs out. As soon as they're out of earshot, Hermione throws a silencing spell around them, "We're going out to fight and buy time, aren't we?"

She smiles grimly at her friend, "Am I so obvious?"

Hermione shakes her head, "Not obvious, just predictable to those that know you. Besides, it's what I'd do. It's what Mike would do. And while I haven't known him personally for long, I'm rather confident that it's what Kazuto would do as well."

She sighs lightly, "Anyone that will make a good leader if they need orders?"

Hermione sighs, "I'd suggest Neville, but I doubt the others would listen to him."

"No, but they'll listen to Susan Bones. Her aunt has made _sure_ she's got a good head on her shoulders, and she'll listen to anyone with a decent suggestion, including Neville. She's also part of the dueling club I've continued doing, so I can vouch for her." Her brother mentally sends her a burst of basic information about Susan Bones to back up his statement as he rejoins them with along with her mate, "I assume we're discussing who to leave in charge while we're outside, yes? I'd suggest you tell her, and the rest for that matter, now so that we can head outside. We might be able to get the drop on the Death Eaters, especially if they're confused about the town being empty."

She nods, then turns to the fighters, "Bones!" The girl turns to her with wide eyes, but before she can say anything, she continues, "I understand you've got a good head on your shoulders courtesy of your aunt. Well, we're leaving you in charge while we head outside."

Susan's eyes widen, "What? Why?!"

She pins her with a look, "You're aunt is head of the DMLE and raised you, right? Surely you realize that while these defenses will hold the Death Eaters off, it won't stand for long, and the other shops likely have even less defenses. We're going outside to buy everyone more time. But we need to leave _someone_ in charge."

The other girls widen further, before understanding and fierce determination, "You can count on me, so you just focus on your own task." Then her face grows solemn, "Good luck."

She merely nods, not bothering to waste time with anything else. Besides, being raised by the head of the DMLE, she likely knew better than anyone who wasn't _in_ the law enforcement department how dangerous their task was.

They have no idea where the Death Eaters will appear from, so they simply break off into pairs and slip into alleys across from each other, Mike and Hermione on one side, her and Kazuto on the other. They've barely settled in when multiple CRACK's of apparation sound out, dropping thirty Death Eaters, half of which immediately throw an anti-apparation ward up and the other half already firing killing curses into the streets. They pause in confusion at the empty street and lack of targets for their spells, and the four of them immediately capitalize on their confusion, Mike and Hermione immediately casting spells while she and Kazuto rush from their cover, Kazuto with both his swords out and her with her falcata in one hand and her wand in the other. She and Kazuto would handle close quarters combat to try and keep them off balance and they'd try to keep it non-lethal if they could, but despite how uncomfortable it makes both of them they'd use lethal force if necessary.

She hurtles spells as fast as she can from her wand to cover their approach while silently deflecting anything that manages to get through, but it really doesn't take long to close the distance to her first enemy. A quick swipe of Shuraba slices their wand in half, quickly switching to Osiris she follows it up with a brutal slash to the Achilles tendon, going all the way down to the bone, and they go down screaming in pain.

She moves through the crowd of Death Eaters quickly in this manner, breaking wands and going for debilitating but non-lethal attacks, slashing at joints and tendons. In short time, she's dealt with four more.

Not long after the fight starts though, an explosion sounds, the front of one of the shops collapse and seconds later screaming and shouting people start pouring out onto the street. Of course, they quickly fall under attack from the Death Eaters. Snarling as she watches a girl that can't be older than thirteen drop to a nasty cutting curse impacting her back and very clearly severing her spine, she switches Osiris for one of Eryx's gauntlets and her wand for one of her guns and starts charging it with pure magic.

With a tiny flare of demonic energy, she punches the Death Eater that cast the spell in the face hard enough to shatter both his mask and his jaw. Ignoring his wordless screaming, she stomps on his wand, breaking both it and the hand still holding it. Twisting on instinct, she avoids a neon purple spell. Quickly shifting to Aquila, she throws her into the man's shoulder. Closing the distance, she shifts back to Eryx, then punches him in the face as well. She can't help but wince slightly when one of the shards from his mask stabs into his eye, but she ignores him as she breaks his wand as too. He wasn't likely to be much of a problem with an injury like that.

The smell of burning flesh reaches her nose, but she ignores both it and the source already knowing the cause. A group of six Death Eaters get blasted apart, smashing into walls and getting violently thrown to the ground by a well placed Confringo courtesy of Hermione, who quickly summons and snaps their wands.

With that, twenty-three of the original thirty Death Eaters are down. Seeing one of the few remaining opponents begin to fire wildly in panic, even killing three of their own, she quickly rushes towards him. Ducking under the wild swing of a knife they'd pulled from their robes, she buries her first, still wearing Eryx, into their gut, then elbows them in the back of the head when they double over. Kicking away the knife when they try to swing at her legs then immediately stomping on their wand. Before the Death Eater can get up she punches them in the head, knocking them out cold.

Turning, she finds that the other three have already dealt with the remaining Death Eaters. She talks quickly as she makes her way over to the downed girl with the nasty cut in her back with equal speed to her speech, "Mike, Hermione, start collecting the Death Eaters. Make sure they're secure and wandless. Kazuto, go back into The Three Broomsticks, find someone that can apparate to the Ministry to notify the Aurors that we need them and some healers. Though I suggest you announce who it is _before_ you open the door fully or step inside. The people holing up in there are likely to curse first and ask questions later."

The boys nod, but before they can move, Hermione tilts her head, "I'll admit that isn't a bad plan, but the anti-apparation wards are still up."

She tilts her head, "Ah, right. I knew I was forgetting something."

Lifting her hand, she brings her gun up so that it's pointing nearly straight up. By now she's pumped so much raw magic into it that it's glowing red from heat and smoking. Though the latter might just be her hand, seeing as the incredibly hot metal is scorching her hand. Pulling the trigger, a shot that sounds more like it came from a particularly loud canon rather than a gun thunders out accompanied by a blast that smashes through the temporary wards the Death Eaters had thrown up with a sound similar to smashing glass.

Lowering her gun, she sighs as she looks over the smoking weapon, "Definitely going to need some serious repair work. _Definitely_ needs to be modified be able to handle a higher capacity of raw magic…"

Her mate rushes over to take a look at her hand, though he quickly realizes he can't even do that, given that the heat has fused the skin of her hand to the gun. Even without knowing the extent of the damage, he gives her a disapproving look just for that. Seeing as Kazuto's busy fussing over her, she shoots Hermione a look. Easily understanding her, Hermione quickly makes her way over to The Three Broomsticks to find someone that can apparate away with the message. It only takes a moment after she enters the establishment for the telltale CRACK of apparation to sound out, indicating someone leaving.

Turning her attention away from her mate and back to the girl, the first immediate relief is that the girl is alive, the second is that other than the back wound, she'd perfectly fine. The wound is a problem though. Depending on the curse used, fixing her spine will either be relatively easy, or it will be impossible and she'll be disabled for the rest of her life.

It's not even five minutes later that Aurors and healers apparate in, lead my Madame Bones herself. She doesn't give anyone time to start barking orders or questioning anyone, "We need healers over here!"

As soon as they register her shout the group of healers rushes over to those that had been wounded while trying to run away. Two of them approach them and one of them kneels down on the other side of the girl, immediately frowning heavily at tyre damage, "Do you know what she was hit with?"

She shakes her head, "No, I'm afraid not. I saw her get hit with _some_ kind of cutting spell, but I didn't hear the spell and I'm sure you could deduce that much yourself."

The healer purses his lips and begins casting, "I see. Don't worry, I've got her. Go to the Aurors, in sure they've got questions."

With a nod she straightens up from her crouch, but before she can do any more the other healer cuts in, "Are you two injured?"

She shakes her head again, "No." Seeing her mate's incredulous and annoyed look, she elaborates, "At least, it's nothing that can't wait. My hand was burned and _heavily_ saturated with raw magic."

The healer nods, "Make sure you get that checked out."

Without another word, the healer moves off to deal with more pressing cases, and her mate stares after her in disbelief. Before her mate can say anything rude, she quickly explains, "There are people who need more immediate help than me Kazuto. Not to mention, I informed her it was saturated with magic for a reason, namely if a wound gets imbued with too much magic, it can either deflect the healing magic, or worse, warp it and possibly worsen the damage. In such cases, the magic needs to either be allowed to dissipate, or drained away by a healer. Since it isn't a life threatening injury, the healers time is better spent trying to save lives. I can be dealt with at a clinic later if necessary."

Her mate calms, though from the way he moves to be on her right to cover her weak spot, and keeps glancing at it, she knows he hasn't fully let it go. She approaches the Aurors, and Madame Bones briefly glances at Mike, quickly drawing the obvious conclusions before speaking, "Miss Sparda I presume?"

She nods, "Yup! Marzanna Sparda, Mike's sister. And you'd be Madame Bones?" The woman nods as they shake hands, "Pleasure to meet you, though I wish the circumstances were different. You're pretty much the only person in the British MoM that my family and I respect."

Madame Bones already has perfect posture, but she still somehow manages to straighten herself further in pride without looking stiff, "Thank you, that's quite a compliment coming from the Sparda family. And while I do wish we could've met under more peaceful circumstances I'm glad you were here today. This could've been far more disastrous than it was."

She shrugs, "I'm a Sparda. Our forte may be demon hunting, but we always do our best to help people when we can." Then she clears her throat, "Please don't take this the wrong way, but perhaps you should try learning something from the Americans? Having to have someone floo or apparate to tip off the Aurors isn't exactly…. efficient. Not to mention, we got rather lucky this time, in that Voldemort didn't send any of his _really_ good Death Eaters this time. I wouldn't be surprised if these ones were mostly new recruits given how easily they went down, despite the fact me and my mate still aren't in top shape and my mate, who's a Switch by the way, hasn't learned any offensive magic yet."

Madame Bones sighs, "I've tried multiple times to push the Wizengamot to allow us to experiment to find a better way, but they say it's impossible so they won't give us the funding. If you've got a suggestion though…"

She smiles at the older woman, "It isn't impossible at all. In fact, you already have the means in the Ministry, you just need to make more and repurpose them. You are aware of course, of the magical tracker orbs that track the use of underage magic via the corresponding spells applied to the wands? The Americans repurposed the idea a while ago, placing the tracking spell on orbs that can be placed in magical shops or centers. If they get hit with a spell, _any_ spell, then a notice is sent to the corresponding orbs in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Perhaps you should merely ask the Americans for their notes on how to make them? And maybe some reports on how well they work. Possibly ask for the reports on a couple cases that would've become disastrous without the orbs. I'm sure they'd be happy to help, but if they give you any trouble just tell Mike. He can contact our grandfather whose good friends with the American Minister for Magic. With all that evidence, along with the evidence of what happened today, it should be relatively easy to push the Wizengamot to give you the funds to produce, enchant, and distribute them to all magical shops, or if you can't cover all of them, then at least the shops in major magical centers."

She can practically _see_ the wheels turning at breakneck speed in the woman's mind, "Thank you, I'll… look into it." After a moment, she shakes her head, then gestures to an Auror beside her, "Anyway, please go with Auror Shacklebolt and give him your witness statement."

She nods, moving off to speak with the tall Auror. She really does hope Madame Bones takes her advice and that she can convince the Wizengamot. Even without Voldemort around, the system they currently had just wasn't good enough when it came to the safety of their citizens.

It's almost a full hour later that the Aurors release them. She takes one look at her tired looking companions and hugs first Hermione then her brother, saying as she does so, "You three look exhausted, so I do believe this is the end of our little get together."

Hermione just nods tiredly as she returns the hug, but her brother responds when she moves onto him, "I'm definitely heading off to take a nap, but it was great seeing you two. Shame it got… interrupted."

Nodding on agreement, she waves as they turn to walk away, "See you guys later."

They give her tired waves over their shoulders as they leave. Turning to her mate, she awkwardly fishes the portkey out of her right pocket with her left hand, seeing as her right is still fused to her gun, then holds the plastic disc out to him, "Ready to head home? We're definitely curling up on my bed and taking a nap…. As soon as I get this thing unfused from my hand anyway."

Her mate nods, "Sounds like a fantastic plan." Then he eyes the little disc in her hand, "Minus the portkey part. Do we _have_ to take that thing?"

She gives him a shrug, "Yes. Neither of us has an apparation license, and there aren't any floos nearby. Not that you want to try that method of travel. _Trust me_."

He grimaces, "... Do you suppose it would be possible to invent something like the teleport gates from Aincrad? Maybe even the crystals?"

She grins, "Maybe. It'd certainly be nice. Though you'd definitely have to change how it works a bit. One gate going both in and out per a city definitely wouldn't work. It wouldn't be able to connect to every single made, but we might be able to modify my family's magic doors to be more like the gates… Doesn't help us now though. Gotta use the portkey to get back to even start looking into it…. After I get my grandmother and mom to take a look at my hand and we take a nice nap anyway."

He sighs, but reaches out to grab the portkey, "Have that to look forward to at least…"

Her light carefree laughter echoes in the minds of everyone in the village long after they've left.

* * *

May 16th, 2025

She blinks rapidly to clear her vision after the rush of color, moving away on reflex. Before she's even had time to take in her surroundings, a widely grinning male with spiky black hair steps up to her excitedly, "Hanna! It's beautiful isn't it?"

Her gaze drifts around, taking in the branches of the massive tree she's standing on, the beautiful city resting on top of it made of wood accents and crystal clear glass in the windows. The entire thing is lit up with the magical lights in blue and pink crystals of some kind.

Letting her gaze return to her mate she smiles, "It's gorgeous." Then she tilts her head, "Admittedly after Aincrad it's a bit strange to be in a game and not see _you_ , but that's not important."

His own grin widens, "I knew you'd like it. Your lucky though, they only added the option to spawn in or teleport to Alne or the brand new Yggdrasil city recently when the new owners relaunched the servers, I had to get here manually last time. Admittedly it was fun playing with Leafa and the scenery was beautiful, but given the pressing circumstances, I definitely wouldn't have minded the option to teleport here." Then he runs his hand through his spiky hair, "It _is_ a bit strange, and the developers of New Alfheim _did_ give me the option to use my old avatar like they gave the rest of you, but really, other then being unfamiliar with the concept of changing my face after all that time in Aincrad, the only real complaint I have is the spiky hair. And that's not even a complaint from me, that's from Yui. Apparently it's uncomfortable to lay on in her Pixie form."

Yui pops out of his pocket, immediately flying over to press a kiss to her cheek, "It _is_ uncomfortable Papa." Then she smiles at her with a touch off sadness, "I'd change back into my regular form and hug you Mama, but Papa I can't do that in such a crowded place, and I _get_ why, I do, but…"

She loosely hugs her daughter's tiny Pixie form to her with one hand, "I understand sweetie, and I'm sorry it's so frustrating. Well undoubtedly have some time alone in an inn later though, so you can give me that hug then, alright."

Yui brightens considerably, "I missed you Mama."

She smiles at the little Pixie that's now standing on her palm, "I missed you too sweetheart."

Now settled, Yui flies up to sit on her shoulder. Looking up, she realizes her mate has been leading them along as she and their daughter talked, likely to the meeting place. Despite the fact that she knows it's too early, she can't help but lift her face towards the currently cloud covered moon in search of their home, but as she'd expected, it wasn't there yet.

She sighs in disappointment, despite logically knowing it was only a matter of time, and even the exact time it would come back to them. Instantly responding to her sigh, both her mate and daughter simultaneously lean over to press a kiss to each of her cheeks while saying, "Cheer up, it won't be long."

As soon as they register the echo of their words from the other side of her, they both lean forward to look at each other with the same surprised expression. She can't help but laugh at them, "I think our daughter might be spending too much time with you while you two try and figure out the Technomancy aspect of her body. Her learning algorithms seem to be picking up far more of your habits than anyone else's, even mine."

The two exchange sheepish looks and she shakes her head before switching gears, "Speaking of which, how has you two's part been coming along? It's been a couple weeks since you gave me an update."

They both give her excited looks, but it's her mate that speaks, "Oh it's been great! I did like you and your mom suggested and started looking into Technomancy tech rather than regular tech to see if it would be more suitable for our needs, and me and Yui think we might've already found stuff capable of transmitting and receiving the frankly monstrously large amount of data while still being small enough to fit in her body, we've _also_ figured out how to get that data to and from Yui from anywhere in the world while she's stored on a completely separate computer your parents bought specifically for her and are currently storing in the basement of your house. Though given your tendency to get attacked by demons, they're trying to find somewhere more secure. We _have_ gotten a rather wide coverage of where she can go, and we've been having your mother apparate around with the device to check so we _think_ the transfer of data is smooth where we _do_ have coverage, but we can't _really_ tell until we can run tests with her in her body. We still need to figure out how to hook the body and tech together and _translate_ all that data being transferred between the two of course, but it's an exciting amount of progress. Especially since you already found a possible body, though you didn't give us details the last time we talked…"

She smiles widely, "That's because I didn't want to get you two's hopes up if the body I figured out doesn't work. I think it should though, and if it works like I think it should, it will allow her to physically age up to an adult and even switch to this Pixie form if she wants to. I've already started making it, but it's going to be another two weeks before it's ready for us to try and hook it and the tech up to each other and start testing it."

The two give her excited looks, and Kirito opens his mouth to say something, but before he can someone calls out to him, "Kirito-kun! I was hoping we'd run into you here!"

Turning as one, she takes in the group approaching them, at least one from each race, which in and of itself was strange from the intense competition between the races that she'd heard of before the relaunch. They were definitely players that had been around long enough to have fully experienced the hostility as well, given that they were all wearing what looked like high end clothes and armor. Two of the females in the group were waving at them, or more accurately, Kirito.

One was rather tall, pale, with long straight dark green hair that was almost black hanging loosely down her back, green almond shaped eyes and thin lips. She was rather beautiful, and that was only accentuated by the golden jewellery she was wearing, along with her leaf green kimono. She was also wearing some sort of cape that only covered one side, crimson clogs, and had a katana slung horizontally across her back. Given the amount of green, she was fairly confident in saying the woman was a Sylph.

In comparison, the other woman was short. She was clearly a Cait Sith from the brown cat ears and tail. She was tan, her wavy blonde hair was parted in the front but otherwise loose whereas in the back it was in two small twintails. She wears a light brown one piece armor that exposes quite a bit of skin, along with long gloves going from halfway down her hand to halfway up her upper arms, a yellow cape much like the one the other woman was wearing, plain black boots, two claws hanging from either side of het waist, and golden jewellery, including a black leather collar with a golden bell.

Her mate smiles at them, "Sakuya! Alicia Rue! It's good to see you two! Here for the reveal of a new world to explore, or re-explore as is the case for Hanna and I?"

The Cait Sith grins while the Sylph sighs, then the Cait Sith glances at her friend with a smug look, "Told you he'd know. Doesn't matter that only the Lords are supposed to know what's going on tonight, I _knew_ he'd somehow know. You owe me five hundred yen Sakuya."

Five hundred yen? If she remembered right, that was about, five dollars? No, more like 4.50 wasn't it? Whatever, the point was that they'd bet real money on her mate knowing something he shouldn't. Not much admittedly, but they'd still bet real money on it. Which also meant they were likely friends irl.

The other woman, now identified as Sakuya sighs again, "Yes, I know. I'll give it to you tomorrow." Then she gives Kirito a calculating look, "More importantly, or perhaps simply more interesting, it's _awfully_ convenient that only a couple _hours_ after we helped you reach the top of the World Tree so you could 'find two people precious to you' is I believe how you put it? That only _hours_ after we helped you up there, it's discovered that the still comatose player's minds were being held prisoner there and released. Interesting and convenient, isn't it Kirito?"

Her mate's gaze darts away then drifts around a bit as he tries to think of an excuse. Not coming up with any quickly, and knowing a silent stretch would basically be confirmation in and of itself, he sighs, "Alright, alright, you got me. I had reason to believe the still comatose SAO players were at the top of the World Tree and one of my friends was one of those players." Then he turns and gives her a loving look, "The other person I was talking about was Hanna here, my… girlfriend. Hanna, this is one of my sister's friends and the Lord of the Sylph, Sakuya, along with the Lord of the Cait Sith, Alicia Rue. My sister and I went to save them and as they said, they later helped me reach the top of the World Tree to save you and Asuna."

Without missing a beat, she corrects him, "I'm your wife, not your girlfriend. I don't give a flying fuck what any government official says, we were together for a year and three months in Aincrad and married for ten months in that death trap. We may not have _bled_ for each other, but that's only because blood wasn't programmed into that game seeing as we fought for and with each other so many times with our lives on the line that I can't even make an _estimation_. You're my god damned husband and I don't give a fuck what anyone says about the validity of marriages in that world. I'll accept fianceé if it'll make you more comfortable, but I won't accept anything less just because of what some Malakas(1) say."

Sakuya gives her a weird look, "... What on earth is a Malaka?"

She shrugs, "Greek insult." Then she squints her eyes and tilts her head, "Well, _technically_ it can also mean something along the lines of 'bro' or 'mate', but I meant it in the insulting sense."

Sakuya looks like she wants to question that, but Kirito quickly cuts across her, "She's a multilingual American. It's kinda her thing to insult specific people in other languages."

She shrugs, "Well, to be fair, while you guys see them as highly insulting, most of the insults you have in Japanese are just really rude ways of saying 'you'. Which there's nothing _wrong_ with per say, but _really_ what's the point in being fluent in fourteen languages if you can't dish out better insults than really rude ways of saying 'you' about the people you dislike with the scorching passion of a thousand quasars."

Her mate doesn't pause for a second, "Hate. The word you're looking for is hate."

She stares at him for a moment, "No. No it was not. There's a vast difference between those I dislike with such passion, such as Kibaou and Kayaba, and those I _**hate**_. It's likely a side effect of being hated and discriminated against for most of my life, but I _rarely_ hate people. A good chunk of those that I do are dead."

Out of the corner of her eye she sees the group all start giving her looks like she's some sort of psycho that will snap at any moment, but she ignores that to return her mate's stare, "Dead?"

She nods, "Yes. To be fair, they _were_ PKers that tried to kill you right in front of me in Aincrad. Like that kurafi Kuradeel. It _was_ _**literally**_ kill or be killed with most of the PKers in Aincrad."

She sees the group relax considerably at that apparently understandable reason for certain people she hates being dead. Her mate pauses, considers this, puts himself in her shoes, then nods firmly.

There's a brief awkward pause, then Kirito shifts the topic back to the original one, " _Anyway_ , yes, I came here for them originally. Normally I can't stand any sort of cheating, but given the circumstances, I considered myself rather lucky that this world turned out to be an older copy of the Cardinal System that was used in Aincrad and that it therefore tried to read the save data from Aincrad that was on my NerveGear, which I was using at the time having been in too much of a rush in trying to confirm if the players were here to bother buying the AmuSphere. By the end of the Cardinal Systems conflict resolution between the new account and my old one from Aincrad, I had my old skill levels, one item from my inventory, my money, a new avatar, and my location data corrupted with my sister's, which ended up dropping me near her rather than the Spriggan capital."

One of members of the group, a pale man of average height with short black hair, black eyes, a well trimmed goatee, exquisite black and royal purple robes and cloak, whose hands were covered in black rings and bracelets, and with a staff strapped across his back suddenly straightens with an annoyed look, "Was this by chance the night of the twentieth of January?"

Her mate just blinks rapidly for a moment, taken back by the random question. Then he nods lightly, "It was actually. Why?"

The man gets a look of satisfaction, like he'd just figured out some huge mystery, "I thought as much. The Lord of any race is notified when a new player joins. Most of them simply dismiss the notifications, but as I'm sure you've realized by now, we Spriggans don't get many new members due to how," His mouth twists with distaste as he pauses briefly, searching for the right word, "unpopular our race is. For as long as I've been the Lord of the Spriggan I've made a point to go and greet anyone that joins the Spriggan while I'm online in person. I had a rather baffling and irritating night on the twentieth in which I was notified to a new member and went to greet them only for no one to drop into the landing zone, despite the fact the tutorial automatically started up and even occasionally seemed to randomly progress. It's merely… satisfying, to finally have answers. It's been bothering me for a while you see."

Kirito gives him a sheepish look, "I'm really sorry about that, but it really was out of my control."

The man nods, "Quite alright. You really should come by the Spriggan capital some time though."

Kirito glances at her, "That depends on whether or not anyone has problems with me bringing my wife."

The man shakes his head, "Of course not. Given that the grand quest was done away with, there really isn't much reason for race hostility any longer." Then he eyes the Sylph and what was likely two Salamanders, "Might not stop _some_ people of course…" Then he smiles ruefully, "Then again, even if there was still as strong a reason for race hostility it wouldn't have been much of a problem. No one really bothered us _lowly_ Spriggan, even to spy on."

Her mate, apparently having already suffered some of the ridicule for his chosen race, shares a frustrated grimace with the man. After a moment's pause, he turns to one of the two Salamanders, "I suppose I should apologize Eugene. Given that I had my stats from Aincrad glacier onto my new avatar, our duel wasn't really fair. I'd be happy to have a rematch…. Once I grind a some serious levels. I told the new developers about the issue and though they offered to let me keep my previous stats and merely fix any bugs as they felt I _had_ earned those levels, I chose to have them reset my avatar completely."

A tall, tan, bulky man that a regular person might consider intimidating with short red hair, a face reminiscent of a bird of prey, fully decked out in red and gold armor with a large two handed sword across his back nods lightly, "I look forward to our rematch." Then he smiles, "Not that I mind having fought you with your Aincrad stats. I quite agree with the developers. Given the circumstances in which you fought for them, I believe you more than earned your previous stats. If anything, I'm honored that I was able to fight that version of you in any way."

Her mate grins at the man, nodding lightly. Before anything else can be said, a young man's excited voice abruptly cuts into the conversation as someone rams into her back, "Hanna-nee-chan!"

She twists as much as she can without dislodging the boy, but she doesn't recognize the rather plain looking young Salamander in the slightest, "Err… I'm sorry, who are you?"

He doesn't seem the slightest bit offended at her not recognizing him though, "I'm Arakan. I'm not all that shocked you don't recognize me, I _was_ just one of the bunch of kids Sasha-san(1) was looking after."

She smiles widely, "Oh! One of Sasha's rowdy little brats! I'm so glad to see you! You doing ok?"

The boys grin widens, "Great!" Then he turns a bit sad, "I haven't seen Sasha-san since we all got logged out though. I've seen most of the others since the SAO school started, but not Sasha-san." Then he looks around a bit and frowns, "Where's Kirito-nii? I thought he was always with you. Attached at the hip as Sasha-san liked to say."

She laughs, "I'm happy to hear that. We were actually on our way to meet a bunch of the old SAO players, plus Kirito's sister, before we stopped to chat. Sasha will be there and you're more than welcome to come with." She gestures to her mate, "And Kirito's right here, he just didn't use his old SAO avatar like the rest of us did."

The boy grows excited when he hears about Sasha, nodding emphatically to show he wanted to go, then he pauses at the last part to stare with wide eyes at Kirito before bursting out, "Is it true? It's true isn't it? That you saved everyone. 'Cause I heard from one of the other SAO players that I met in physical therapy that you figured out that Heathcliff was _actually_ Kayaba in disguise and challenged him to a duel to the death to free everyone twenty-five floors early. It's true right? 'Cause if _anyone_ could do it it'd be Kirito-nii!" Giving her an embarrassed apologetic look, he quickly tacks on, "Or Hanna-nee-chan! But everyone's been calling you Kirito the Hero instead of Kirito the Black Swordsman!"

Kirito flushes with embarrassment at the way the group, that she's beginning to believe is all the Lords of the races plus a few extras, gapes at him in astonishment. She chuckles lightly, "Basically. It would be more accurate to say that Kirito figured it out and confronted him and that Heathcliff, or rather, _Kayaba_ told him that as a reward for deducting his identity he'd give Kirito the chance to fight him, the final boss of the game, right then and there and _possibly_ free everyone if he won their death duel. An offer this crazy bastard accepted."

The boy grins, "I knew it! Yumena _wanted_ to believe it, but she wasn't so sure, and I _told_ her it was true, but she didn't believe me!"

She chuckles lightly, "Well, now you can tell her you know for _sure_." He nods happily, then she turns her gaze to the others, "We really should be going if we want to meet up with our friends before the unveiling, but you're more than welcome to come with us if you'd like, though I have no idea where we're going."

Her mate cuts in before anyone can reply to that, "It's not much further actually."

They all nod, but it's Sakuya who speaks following a light chuckle, "As I'm sure you've adjust surmised our little group is comprised of all the Lords along with a few others. It was decided that meeting up for the unveiling might help sooth our old hostilities, but we don't really have any plans. We've really just been wandering around for the past few hours so as to be seen together prior to the 'mysterious event' that was announced. We've done more than enough of that though, and I believe I can speak for all of us when I say that it would be an enjoyable honor to meet former SAO players."

She smiles at the taller woman as their now much larger group begins following her mate to the meeting spot, which she only knows to be an out of the way plaza, "Not all of them were fighters you know. Most of them, sure, but not all. Lizbeth for instance was a blacksmith first and foremost, though I hear she was rather good with a mace, and Sasha, though she'd been willing to join the front lines, gave it up I'm favour of taking care of any kids she could find in the Town of Beginnings. That's what we were talking about earlier actually, Arakan was one of the kids she took care of in Aincrad."

Sakuya shakes her head, "I'll admit that I'll probably have a higher respect for fighters, but really, I respect anyone that survived that hell with their sanity intact. Except for maybe Sasha-san. Dedicating yourself to the care of children is a noble cause in my opinion."

She nods with a grin, "That it is. Not to mention, she could be rather fierce when it came to those kids. Not long after we met we found out that some scum were trying to extort money from some of the kids that left the town safe zone to get money to take care of the younger kids. Anyone who can and will stare down a dozen men in heavy plate mail armor with nothing more than a dagger and a regular dress and have the nerve to shout at them, regardless if it's all taking place in a town safe zone, has my respect in spades."

Sakuya smiles and nods in agreement, then tilts her head at Kazuto, "So, just out of curiosity, how _did_ you find out what tonight's unveiling is about?"

He gives her a weary smile, "I'm good friends with what was Aincrad's top info broker. She seems to have transferred her skill to real life, seeing as she _still_ seems to know just about anything you could _want_ to know. I honestly have _no_ _ **idea**_ how she does it, but she was the one who told me. Hell, I _know_ she isn't a hacker and doesn't attain any information illegally, but I wouldn't be surprised if she could track down anyone in Alfheim irl if she wanted to."

Sakuya looks weary, "Sounds like a... formidable woman."

Her mate grins lightly, "That's one way of putting it. Mildly creepy and annoying are the more _common_ descriptions I've heard. It's likely a rather large chunk of the former SAO players know what's going on in Alfheim tonight, despite the fact they're not supposed to. Piece of advice if you ever find yourself dealing with Argo? She can find out just about anything you want to know if she doesn't happen to _already_ know it, but _**never**_ screw her over. Haggling over prices is ok so long as you don't push it, she even sometimes finds it enjoyable, but whatever you do, _don't_ cheat her. She _**will**_ make you **pay**."

Before Sakuya can respond, they reach the plaza that's already filled with their friends and acquaintances from SAO, all of which are mingling excitedly with one another. Arakan looks around briefly, then his face lights up, "Sasha-san!"

The loud cry halts all discussion and Sasha whirls around, away from Thinker and Yulier who she'd been talking to, automatically opening her arms to accept the excited boy into a hug as he barrels into her, "Arakan-kun! I'm so happy to see you! How are you? Have you seen any of the other kids? How are they doing?"

Arakan smiles widely, "I'm happy to see you too. I've been doing great, so have the others. How about you? The SAO school is set up so everyone's where they _need_ to be rather than where they _should_ be, but because they break up where the classes are by levels of education, we're all in the same area. I missed you Sasha-san, we all have."Then he frowns slightly, a lost, hurt expression on his face, "Why didn't you come looking for us?"

Sasha smiles, "I've been fine. Worried about and missing all of you, but perfectly fine otherwise. I'm glad you're all together at least. As for looking for you all…" She sighs, "I wanted to, but I didn't think your parents would appreciate a stranger hanging around with their kids."

Arakan frowns, "That's dumb. My mom keeps saying she wants to meet you to thank you for taking care of me. She always gets all teary when she says it, though I don't know _why_." Then he squints up at Sasha, "... Just like you're doing now. Why are you teary Sasha-san? Are you sad?"

Sasha shakes her head, "No, I'm happy. Happy and relieved."

Arakan gets that 'adults are frustrating and confusing and _weird_ ' look that only kids can pull off, "That's what my mom always says too!"

Thinker chuckles, "Don't worry about it so much Arakan. You'll understand when you're older."

Though he says it under his breath, in the quiet of the plaza Arakan's muttered words if annoyance carry easily, "That's what my dad always says when I ask mom."

There are chuckles all around the plaza before people return to their conversations, though many of them call out greetings or wave at her and her mate. Kirito looks around, then frowns lightly, "Do you see Leafa anywhere?"

She gives her mate an amused look, "In case you're forgetting, I don't know what your sister's avatar looks like. Though I don't see anyone I don't at least vaguely recognize from SAO either, seeing as everyone I'm not _totally_ familiar with are one of Diabel's minions. Speaking of which, Diabel and a few of the others have suggested we start a guild and invite all our friends here. Seeing as they seem to have some sort of wordless unanimous agreement that one of us should be guild leader, or more accurately that we should co-lead, they wanted me to ask what you thought. They seem to think you'd drop your near solo style and be more accepting of the idea if it came from me. Personally, I wasn't really into guilds in the past, but I think it'd be fun."

Her mate stares at her blankly for a moment, "Those _bastards_. How _dare_ they manipulate me by having you ask? The one person in the world I can't say no to without a _very_ good reason." She laughs lightly and he gives a dramatic sigh, " _Fine_. I guess we could form one of the best guilds to ever be created with our friends. Though I am going to grumble and complain and pretend that I hate the idea the entire way."

Shaking her head with a smile she bumps his shoulder, "Yea, yea, alright Mr Grouch. Go find your sister, I'll start spreading the news."

True to his word he grumbles and glares briefly at the last part, then lifts his gaze to smile lightly at the clouds, "... I think I might actually know where she is." He gives her a loving look, "I'll see you later, alright? Yui, stay with Hanna for now."

Both her and their daughter give mock salutes, then watch him take off skywards until they lose track of him when he blends in with the night sky. Moving off, she begins spreading the word of Kirito's agreement, much to everyone else's excitement. It's not long before they start brainstorming ideas for guild names, though there's an unspoken unanimous agreement not to have it have _anything_ to do with SAO or Survivor and definitely not together. It's as Klein is trying to convince her and a few of the others for the sixth time to name it Fuurinkazan that the clock strikes midnight, immediately being sounded out by large bells.

Instantly all talk stops as everyone turns excited gazes upwards. There, descending in front of the moon, was her home, or at least one of them. Aincrad had returned.


End file.
